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PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of  the 
Rev.  John  B.  Wiedin^'-er 


BS  2651  .D52  1905 
Dickie,  William. 
The  culture  of  the  spiritua 
life 


THE  CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 


THE    CULTURE 
THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

SOME  STUDIES  IN  THE  TEACHING 
OF    THE    APOSTLE    PAUL 


BY  THE  REV. 


WILLIAM  "DICKIE,    M.A.,    D.D. 

MINISTER    OF    DOWANHILL    UNITED     FREE    CHURCH,     GLASGOW 
AUTHOR  or   "  THE  CHRISTIAN  ETHICS  OF  SOCIAL  LIFE  " 


CINCINNATI 

JENNINGS    &    GRAHAM 

1906 


Prinied  by  Haeell,  H''atson  cS*  I'iney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbur}',  Etigland. 


TO   THE    MEMORY 
OF 

MY    FATHER    AND    MOTHER 


PREFACE 

THE  Apostle  Paul  has  been  studied  so  much  as 
a  Christian  theologian  that  there  is  danger  of 
his  being  somewhat  neglected  as  a  Christian  moralist. 
His  Epistles,  however,  are  a  thesaurus  of  applied 
Christian  Ethics,  which  no  preacher  or  student  of 
Scripture  can  afford  to  ignore.  It  is  because  so  little 
has  been  written  on  the  Apostle's  teaching  regarding 
the  culture  of  the  spiritual  life  that  this  book  is 
offered  as  an  attempt  to  meet,  in  some  measure,  what 
is  believed  to  be  a  want  felt  by  many. 

The  spiritual  life  is  not  to  be  viewed  in  any  narrow 
or  conventional  sense.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  is  spoken 
of  as  if  it  were  a  type  of  life  which  could  only  be 
lived  apart  from  the  common  life  of  men — a  divine 
fire  that  needed  no  earthly  fuel.  In  reality  it  has 
everything  to  do  with  our  everyday  life.  It  is  our 
common  life  inspired  and  sublimated  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  and  concerns  all  that  concerns  man.  It  knows 
no  exclusiveness,  and  is  good  for  the  market  as 
for  the  Church,  for  social  intercourse  as  for  Christian 
service,  for  our  pleasures  as  for  our  sorrows.  It  is 
our  old  life  with  its  multifarious  interests  and  engage- 


viii  PREFACE 

ments  made  new  by  being  lifted  up  to  a  higher  plane 
and  lived  out  in  a  new  spirit. 

The  culture  of  the  spiritual  life  begins  with  our 
adoption  of  the  Christian  point  of  view  in  regard  to 
our  nature  and  our  destiny.  In  order,  however,  to 
arrive  at,  and  appreciate,  this  point  of  view,  it  was 
felt  to  be  necessary  briefly  to  compare  and  contrast 
the  Pauline  with  the  Pagan  conception  of  the  problem 
of  the  moral  life.  The  revelation  of  God  in  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  revelation  of  new  heights  and  depths 
in  the  nature  of  man.  With  the  coming  of  Jesus  the 
whole  ethical  outlook  was  changed,  and  the  problem 
became  at  once  larger  and  more  hopeful. 

But  the  student  of  Paul's  teaching  finds  also  that 
he  cannot  proceed  far  without  discovering  that  the 
Apostle's  ethics  are  so  based  upon,  and  intertwined 
with,  his  theology  that  the  one  cannot  be  understood 
without  the  other.  Man  is  regarded  in  his  eternal 
relations  to  God,  to  himself,  and  to  the  world.  In 
other  words,  Paul's  conception  of  man's  nature  and 
destiny  is  determined  by  his  conception  of  God's  nature 
and  God's  purpose  in  redemption.  It  seemed  im- 
perative, therefore,  to  the  right  understanding  of  the 
subject  to  deal  with  Paul's  view  of  sin  and  of  man's 
deliverance  from  sin  by  the  redemptive  work  of  Christ, 
who  becomes  the  standard  and  the  power  of  the 
spiritual  life. 

The  general  scheme  of  the  book  is  simple.  The 
Christian  point  of  view  in  regard  to  the  problem 
being    reached,   the    culture    of    the    spiritual    life    is 


PREFACE  ix 

considered  in  a  series  of  chapters  in  its  three  general 
aspects — Personal,  Social,  and  Domestic.  The  con- 
cluding chapters  of  the  volume  treat  of  the  aberrations 
against  which  Paul  had  to  define  and  defend  the 
spiritual  life — aberrations,  the  study  of  which  enables  us 
to  appreciate  more  fully  the  wholesomeness  and  breadth 
of  the  Apostle's  conception  of  Christian  Spirituality. 
These  aberrations,  which  are  not  without  their  modern 
counterparts,  are  Over-spirituality,  a  False  Intel- 
lectualism,  an  Ascetic  denial  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
natural  life,  and  a  tendency  to  revert  to  Legalism. 
The  spiritual  life  of  the  Christian,  as  depicted  by  Paul, 
is  enhanced  by  his  delineation  of  these  excesses  and 
errors,  just  as  the  brilliancy  of  a  landscape  is  heightened 
by  the  shadows  that  fall  upon  the  scene. 

We  have  endeavoured,  as  far  as  possible,  to  indicate 
our  indebtedness  to  others  ;  but,  as  every  one  knows, 
thoughts,  like  seeds,  are  carried  in  strange  ways — by 
birds  and  winds  of  heaven — and  grow  when  we  are, 
as  it  were,  asleep  and  unconscious  of  their  arrival 
and  germination.  The  realm  of  thought  is  a  great 
communism  in  which  we  all  are  at  once  debtors 
and  creditors. 

The  writer  does  not  profess  to  have  treated  the 
subject  with  that  thoroughness  which  it  deserved  and 
he  desired.  In  extenuation  he  can  only  plead  the 
scanty  leisure  at  his  disposal  as  minister  of  a  large 
city  congregation,  which  has  ever  been  generous  and 
forbearing. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  acknowledge  very  cordially  our 


X  PREFACE 

obligation  to  three  friends — the  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Dickson, 
M.A.,  Edinburgh ;  the  Rev.  David  Mackie,  M.A., 
Partick  ;  and  the  Rev.  John  Addie,  M.A.,  Perth,  for 
services  willingly  rendered  in  offering  valuable  sugges- 
tions and  in  revising  the  proofs. 

May  these  pages  lead  many  to  a  deeper  appreciation 
of  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle,  who  was  himself,  by 
precept  and  example,  among  the  first  and  greatest 
exponents  of  the  Culture  of  the  Spiritual  Life,  and 
through  his  teaching  may  many  be  brought  to  a  pro- 
founder  adoration  of,  and  devotion  to,  his  Master  and 
ours,  as  The  Light  and  Life  of  men. 

WILLIAM   DICKIE. 
Lynnwood,  Partickhill, 
Glasgow,  1905. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY — ON  SOME  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  PAULINE 

ETHICS 3 


CHAPTER    II 
DE  PROFUNDIS 15 

CHAPTER   III 
THE   WAY   OUT   AND   THE   WAY   IN  ....         27 

CHAPTER   IV 

CHRIST   THE   STANDARD   AND   THE    POWER    OF    THE   NEW 

LIFE 45 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 

PACK 

THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK    OF   THE  NEW   LIFE  .  .         57 


CHAPTER   VI 
IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE 7 1 


CHAPTER  VII 

ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER 87 

CHAPTER  VIII 

ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  .  .  .  ,  .  .       I05 

CHAPTER    IX 
ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  .  .  .  ,  '.  .121 

CHAPTER  X 

ON   SOME   ELEMENTS   OF  THE   CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    .  ,      I39 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER  XI 

PAGE 

ON   THE   MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION  .  .  .  .  •      153 


CHAPTER   XII 

CONSCIENCE   TO   OURSELVES   AND   OTHERS         .  .  .      167 

CHAPTER   XIII 
THIS   GRACE   ALSO 183 

CHAPTER   XIV 
MAN   AND   WOMAN .      201 

CHAPTER  XV 

THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE    IN   RELATION    TO    MARRIAGE    AND 

CELIBACY 219 

CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME      ,  ,  ,      233 


xiv  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   XVII 

PAcr 
BOUND   VET    FREE 249 


CHAPTER    XVI  n 
AN   APOLOGY    FOR    THE  WEAK    AND    OBSCURE  .  ,  .263 

CHAPTER   XIX 

ON   OVER-SPIRITUALITY 279 

CHAPTER  XX 

THE  PLACE  OF   THE   INTELLECT   IN    THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE      29I 

CHAPTER   XXI 
THE   LIMITS   AND   DANGERS   OF   THE   ASCETIC   SPIRIT  .      305 

CHAPTER  XXII 

THE   REVERSION    TO    LEGALISM 32 1 


CONTENTS  XV 


GENERAL   INDEX 333 


INDEX   OF  TEXTS 


337 


ON  SOME  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  PAULINE  ETHICS 


"Too  often  has  the  advocacy  of  Christian  ethics  been  left  to  those  who 
accept  Christ's  teaching  and  example  without  fully  recognising  that  it  is 
by  His  sacrifice  we  are  saved  and  by  His  Spirit  sanctified.  But  Christian 
ethics  includes  much  more  than  the  words  of  Jesus  about  duty,  or  even 
the  works  of  Jesus  done  in  love  and  righteousness ;  it  includes  the  moral 
value  and  efficacy  of  His  agony  and  passion." — Garvie's  The  Gospel  for 
To-day. 

"  The  true  conception  of  humanity  demands  that  man  shall  not  desire 
to  have  morality  as  his  own,  but  as  founded  on  God  and  on  man's  relation 
to  God." — Martensen's  Christian  Ethics. 

"  His  [Paul's]  thought  is  everywhere  penetrated  with  an  intense  heat, 
leavened  with  lightning,  that  fuses  the  mass  containing  it,  and  runs  oft' 
alive  for  other  media  to  hold  it.  The  revelation  to  him  of  Christ  in 
heaven  set  in  action  all  the  resources  of  his  nature,  and  gave  them  a 
preternatural  tension." — Martineau's  Studies  of  Christianity. 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY 

ON  SOME  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  PAULINE  ETHICS 

IN  entering  upon  a  study  of  the  teaching  of  Paul 
regarding  the  culture  of  the  spiritual  life,  it  is 
important  to  note  the  relation  of  his  ethics  to  his 
theology.  Being  the  ethics  of  the  Christian  life,  they 
are  based  upon  great  theological  postulates  regarding 
the  being  and  nature  of  God.  If  God  be  the  God 
of  holiness,  love,  and  grace,  He  cannot  be  complacent 
in  view  of  His  creature's  misery  and  sin.  He  may  be 
expected  to  intervene  in  the  history  of  humanity  with 
the  supreme  object  of  man's  salvation.  God's  revelation 
of  Himself  must  have  in  view  the  transformation  of 
human  life  into  the  ideal  life  of  God  as  manifested  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  this  ideal  must  become  the  chief  end 
of  man's  aspiration  and  endeavour.  For  that  reason 
Christian  ethics  are  related  to  Christian  theology  as  the 
stream  to  the  fountain,  as  the  flower  to  the  seed. 

But  there  is  another  reason  for  this  characteristic 
of  Pauline  ethics.  It  is  personal,  and  is  to  be  found 
in  his  peculiar  experience  in  connection  with  the  origin 
and  maintenance  of  his  own  life  as  a  Christian.  The 
cataclysm  of  his  individual  history,  to  which  he  dated 
back  his  moral  regeneration,  was  due  to  the  great 
flood  of  light  which  bore  down  upon  him  from  heaven. 

3 


4      CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

This  was  to  him  not  merely  a  mental  illumination : 
it  was  a  moral  resurrection.  The  fontal  source  of  it 
was  the  vision  of  the  Crucified.  Before  the  vision 
he  fell  as  a  dead  man — dead  to  the  old  life  of  futile 
effort  and  legal  obedience.  He  saw  his  righteousnesses 
shrivel  up  like  the  leaves  of  a  blasted  tree.  But  the 
lightning-flash  of  revealed  grace  that  slew  him  also 
revived  him.  The  end  was  also  a  beginning.  "  I  am 
crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  Hveth  in  me."^  This  identification  of 
Paul  with  Christ,  of  human  life  with  divine  life,  of 
moral  effort  with  religious  obligation,  naturally  affects 
the  whole  of  Paul's  teaching  regarding  the  spiritual 
life.  It  gives  it  a  constant  theological  reference  and 
support. 

And,  indeed,  Paul's  ethical  teaching  marks  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  ethics.  He  begins  with  the  idea  of 
a  holy  God,  and  works  down  from  this  conception  to 
test  and  elevate  the  moral  nature  of  man.  Greek 
ethics  began  with  man,  and  endeavoured  to  build  up 
an  ethical  ideal  from  the  elements  which  it  found  in 
him.  Paul  found  the  ideal  in  the  incarnate  Son  of 
God,  in  whom  "  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily."*  His  ideal  was  that  of  a  Person,  and  was 
actually  realised  in  a  life  ;  whilst  that  of  the  Greeks 
was  an  elaborated  abstraction,  which  none,  not  even 
the  best,  ever  realised  in  its  totality. 

Again,  Paul  perceived  the  ends  of  the  ethical  life 
as  making  for  holiness— the  holiness  of  God.  The 
Greek  moralists  oscillated  between  different  ends :  to 
some  it  was  virtue ;  to  others  knowledge ;  to  others 
pleasure — all  in  man.  They  sought  the  perfect  man, 
'  Gal.  ii.  20.  *  Col.  ii.  9. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

that  might  be,  in  the  imperfect  men  that  are  :  he  dis- 
covered the  Perfect  Man,  that  was  and  is,  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 

And  still  another  point  of  contrast  and  divergence 
may  be  noted.  In  the  ethical  teaching  of  Paul,  man 
is  constantly  reviewed  and  challenged  in  the  relation 
of  his  life  to  the  divine  order  and  purpose  as  revealed 
in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  Greek  ethics  man  is 
regarded  simply  in  relation  to  the  order  of  nature,  of 
which  he  forms  an  integral  part.  The  main  problem 
to  the  Greek  is  how  to  adjust  life  to  the  world  around 
him,  to  the  conditions  of  the  state  or  of  the  city,  to 
the  environment  in  which  he  actually  finds  himself,  to 
the  natural  forces  which  thwart  his  will  and  mar 
his  peace  of  mind  and  comfort  of  body.  For  this 
reason  the  ethics  of  the  Academy  are,  for  the 
most  part,  political  or  civic,  and  those  of  the  Porch 
naturalistic  and  utilitarian.  To  Paul,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  ethical  inquiry  went  deeper  and  was  more 
searching,  because  the  standard  was  higher  and  the 
obligation  more  exacting.  The  ethical  problem  became 
essentially  subjective,  introspective,  and  religious ;  for 
the  secrets  of  heart  and  conscience  were  laid  bare  before 
God,  who  demanded  a  life  of  holiness  and  guaranteed 
its  attainment. 

As  the  problem  of  ethics  is  not  merely  the  problem 
of  the  moral  life,  but  of  the  best  moral  life,  the  value 
of  the  solution  is  to  be  judged  by  the  quality  of  life 
which  it  begets,  fosters,  and  propagates.  For  ethics 
are  not  merely  a  branch  of  the  natural  history  of  the 
human  animal,  in  which  his  virtues  and  vices  are 
defined,  classified,  and  correlated.  Ethics  deal  with 
possibilities  as  well  as  actualities:  their  domain  stretches 


6      CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

beyond  the  explored  into  the  inimitable  ideal  ;  for  the 
life  of  a  moral  being  has  reference  to  the  universe  and 
to  God.  The  value  of  an  ethical  theory  is  not  exhausted 
by  its  correctness  in  ascertaining  and  generalising  what 
may  be  called  the  moral  phenomena  of  man.  It  has 
an  educational  and  missionary  end — the  furtherance  of 
the  moral  nature,  the  betterment  of  man,  the  discovery 
of  a  larger  and  fuller  life.  For  that  reason  the  value 
of  ethical  teaching  is  to  be  reckoned  by  its  moral 
results. 

What,  then,  is  the  problem  which  we  have  to  face? 
We  find  ourselves  in  a  world  which  baulks  our  desires 
and  frustrates  our  plans.  Nature  in  many  of  her 
moods  is  remorseless  as  fate,  and  silent  as  the  Sphinx. 
Our  very  existence  is  hazardous.  We  have  to  run 
the  gauntlet  of  sickness,  misfortune,  adversity,  and 
death — the  incalculable  contingencies  which  condition 
all  our  lives.  The  threads  of  our  being,  also,  are  so 
inextricably  interwoven  with  the  lives  of  others  that 
conduct  is  a  continual  experiment  in  accommodation 
and  adjustment.  Nor  is  this  all.  We  are  conscious 
of  relations  to  a  life  which  is  above  us,  and  to  a  life 
which  is  beyond,  such  as  compel  us  to  transcend  the 
visible  and  to  view  our  life  sub  specie  aternitatis.  Our 
success  or  failure  in  the  midst  of  all  these  indifferent, 
opposing,  or  benign  forces  must  depend  upon  the  view 
of  life  which  we  adopt,  the  end  for  which  we  strive, 
the  hope  or  despair  which  inspires  or  depresses  us  in 
the  struggle,  the  contraction  or  expansion  of  our  out- 
look. What  help  can  our  ethical  theories  contribute  to 
us  in  this  life-long  contention  with  our  environment? 
Their  justification  is  to  be  sought  in  the  quality  of  life 
which  ensues. 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

When  we  inquire  as  to  the  outcome  of  philosophical 
ethics  in  Greek  life  we  are  filled  with  disappointment. 
One  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  refinement  of 
their  teaching.  Many  of  their  utterances  are  like 
premonitions  or  echoes  of  Christianity.  Indeed,  the 
similarities  and  coincidences  of  language  are  almost 
misleading.^  For,  though  the  Pagan  talks  Christian, 
it  is  with  a  difference.  His  conception  of  life  and 
of  man's  position  in  the  universe  is  not  that  of  Christian 
thought.  God,  redemption,  and  immortality,  as  pre- 
sented by  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  create  a  new  atmosphere 
and  set  man  in  a  new  world,  with  a  higher  uplook 
and  a  wider  outlook.  We  regard  with  admiration  the 
beautiful  and  intricate  machinery  of  Pagan  ethical 
systems,  but  we  discover  that  there  is  one  thing 
awanting — there  is  no  steam  to  set  and  keep  the 
machinery  going :  they  have  no  dynamic  energy. 
And  it  is  this  point  which  we  desire  specially  to 
emphasise  ;  for  an  ethical  teaching  which  is  devoid 
of  religious  sanction  has  little  effect  upon  the  moral 
life  of  man.  It  is  precisely  because  Paul  constantly 
correlates  man  with  God  and  Christ  and  immor- 
tality that  an  ethical  revival  springs  from  his  ethical 
teaching. 

The  meagreness  of  the  results  of  ancient  philosophical 
ethics  as  seen  in  the  moral  life  of  Greece  and  Rome 
has  often  been  remarked  upon.*  The  masses  remained 
unimpressed.  The  ideal  man  needed  an  ideal  society, 
which  the  theories  were  inadequate  to  create.  Plato's 
philosopher-king   was   "the   creation  of  a  state  which 

^  Lightfoot's  Philippians.    Essay  on  Paul  and  Seneca,  passim. 
*  Strong's  Christian  Ethics ,  pp.   3-12  ;  Lightfoot's  Philippians^ 
p.  309. 


8      CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

no  existing  conditions  were  adequate  to  produce " ; 
whilst,  in  the  case  of  the  Stoics,  the  life  of  protest 
and  resignation  invited  only  the  philosopher,  who  could 
afford  to  retire  from,  or  rise  above,  the  turmoil  of  a 
full  and  active  life.  And  this  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  when  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  appeal.  The 
higher  the  ideal  was  held  up  the  more  difficult  it  was 
to  attain  :  and  the  more  the  rules  for  its  attainment 
were  refined,  either  in  conformity  with,  or  in  protest 
against,  the  actual  conditions  of  life,  the  less  easy 
were  they  to  understand  and  to  follow.  The  ideal,  in 
fact,  had  no  power  to  translate  itself  into  life  :  the 
rules  did  not  engage  and  energise  the  will.  Ethical 
theories  failed  for  lack  of  the  religious  dynamic.  Man, 
not  having  discovered  his  larger  and  divine  affinities, 
was  left  very  much  where  he  was,  groping  through 
the  maze  of  conduct  without  inspiration,  without  vision, 
without  hope  :  he  had  never  sounded  the  depths  of 
his  own  nature  in  its  actualities  of  sin  and  its  possi- 
bilities of  holiness,  nor  had  he  apprehended  the  bene- 
ficence and  grace  of  the  nature  of  God. 

When  we  pass  into  the  region  of  Pauline  ethical 
thought  we  breathe  a  fresher  and  more  invigorating 
atmosphere.  Not  that  Paul  thought  of  himself  as  an 
ethical  philosopher ;  all  we  can  say  is,  that  he  was  an 
ethical  missionary,  because  he  was  a  missionary  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Indeed,  his  ethical  teaching  was  merely 
incidental.  He  never  defined  a  system.  His  ethics 
were  the  legitimate  outcome  of  his  personal  experience 
of  moral  regeneration,  and  had  as  their  basis  the  larger 
and  deeper  conception  of  God  revealed  to  him  in  Jesus 
Christ.  But  it  was  an  experience  which  he  felt  con- 
strained  to  share  with   all   men,  and   for   that  reason 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

he  laboured  to  bring  them  to  Christ  as  the  origin  and 
source  of  it.  His  ethics  were  the  natural  product  of  his 
theology,  just  because  the  Christian  life  is  the  product 
of  the  Christian  faith. 

Turning  now  to  the  theological  basis  of  Paul's  ethical 
teaching,  we  may  sum  it  up  in  a  few  outstanding 
postulates.  These  postulates  give  life  and  movement 
to  his  whole  conception  of  Christian  conduct. 

God  is  the  God  of  holiness.  He  is  the  absolute 
Good,  who  made  all  things  good.  But  over  against 
this  stands  the  sinfulness  of  man,  which  God's  holiness 
at  once  reveals  and  condemns. 

God  is  love.  Love  is  self-revealing.  He  manifests 
Himself  in  nature,  in  providence,  in  conscience,  to  all 
men ;  to  the  Jews  especially,  in  their  national  history, 
with  its  encouragements  and  rebukes ;  to  Jew  and 
Gentile  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  Incarnation  is  the  full 
and  free  expression  of  God's  love — of  God's  love  to 
Christ,  and  through  Christ  to  man.  The  Incarnation, 
however,  is  not  only  a  revelation  of  God  :  it  is  also  a 
revelation  of  man.  It  reveals  the  holiness  of  God  as  the 
standard  and  goal  of  human  life.  Though  man  has 
fallen,  it  is  from  this  holiness  he  fell — the  holiness 
made  manifest  in  Jesus ;  to  this  holiness  he  may  also 
be  restored. 

God  is  the  God  of  grace.  The  movements  of  God — 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit — all  make  for  the  salvation 
of  man.  The  barrier  of  sin  which  separates  man  from 
God  is  broken  down  by  God  Himself,  who  gave  Christ 
to  die  for  sin.  The  death  of  Christ  is  thus  the  charter 
of  deliverance.  Man,  liberated  from  the  thraldom  of 
sin,  is  free  to  be  holy.  The  Spirit  calls  him  with  a 
holy  calling.     The  life  of  holiness  becomes  a  vocation, 


10    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

to  which  man  is  constrained  by  love.  His  moral  ideal 
is  now  not  merely  a  theory,  it  is  a  life — a  life  which 
realises  itself  afresh  in  all  who,  by  faith,  identify  them- 
selves with  Christ,  the  Life  of  men.  And  Christ 
breaks  down  not  only  the  barrier  of  sin  which  separates 
man  from  God,  but  the  barrier  of  death  which  separates 
him  from  immortality.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  gave  man  the  vision  and  assurance  of  a  larger 
life — a  life  beyond  the  grave.  He  is  "the  first-born 
from  the  dead,"  the  first-fruits,  the  earnest  of  the 
harvest. 

These  theological  conceptions  are  rich  in  ethical 
content.  Man  is  set  in  a  new  position  in  the  universe. 
His  life  is  construed  in  terms  of  the  life  of  God.  The 
deeper  depths  of  sinfulness  are  revealed  in  him,  but 
there  are  also  revealed  sublimer  heights  of  moral 
possibility.  He  sees  a  higher  ideal  before  him,  but 
it  is  no  longer  a  passive  ideal,  an  abstraction.  It  is 
an  ideal  which  has  the  power  of  reproduction  ;  a  life 
once  realised,  and  ever  realising  itself  in  others :  not 
merely  an  ideal  towards  which  we  strive,  but  an  ideal 
which  is  ever  striving  with  and  in  us.  Indeed,  the 
Christian  life  is  a  new  type  of  life,  a  new  creation  ; 
Christ  dwelling  in  us  by  faith.  It  is  a  life  of  which 
Christ  is  the  standard  and  the  power.  The  facts  of 
His  life  are  the  guarantees  and  assurances  upon  which 
it  rests.  His  Incarnation  announces  the  affinities  of 
man  with  God.  God  in  man  in  Christ  Jesus  is  pro- 
phetic of  God  in  us  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  So 
also  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  is  not  a  hope  or  a 
speculation.  It  is  guaranteed  by  the  fact  of  the  death 
of  Christ.  And  in  the  same  way,  our  immortality  is 
no  longer  the  dream  of  the  poet  or  the  vision  of  the 


INTRODUCTORY  il 

philosopher  ;  it  is  assured  by  the  fact  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  our  Lord.  It  is  thus  the  ethics  of  Paul,  by 
bringing  man  into  a  living  relation  to  God  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  make  the  moral  life  dependent 
not  merely  upon  human  endeavour,  but  upon  divine 
inspiration. 


DE     PROFUNDIS 


13 


"  Nothing  in  the  various  inconsistency  of  human  nature  is  more 
grotesque  than  its  willingness  to  be  taxed  with  any  quantity  of  sins  in  the 
gross,  and  its  resentment  at  the  insinuation  of  having  committed  the 
smallest  parcel  of  them  in  detail." — Ruskin's  Letters  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer. 

"  She  being  stained  herself,  why  did  she  strive 
To  make  Him  clean,  who  could  not  be  defiled  ? 
Why  kept  she  not  her  tears  for  her  own  faults, 
And  not  His  feet  ?    Though  we  could  dive 
In  tears  like  seas,  our  sinnes  are  pil'd 
Deeper  than  they,  in  words,  and  works,  and  thoughts. 

"  Deare  soul,  she  knew  who  did  vouchsafe  and  deigne 
To  bear  her  filth  ;  and  that  her  sinnes  did  dash 
Ev'n  God  Himself :  wherefore  she  was  not  loth, 
As  she  had  brought  wherewith  to  stain, 
So  to  bring  in  wherewith  to  wash  : 
And  yet  in  washing  one,  she  washed  both." 

Herbert's  Marie  MagdaL-m. 

"We  may  go  so  far  as  to  declare  that  no  one  can  enter  deeply  into 
the  study  of  sin  without  sitting  at  St.  Paul's  feet  to  learn  both  the 
metaphysics  and  the  ethics  and  still  more  the  theology  of  the  quesiioii 
as  he  here  enunciates  and  develops  each." — Vaughan's  Lessons  of  the 
Cross  and  Passion, 


M 


CHAPTER    II 

DE    PROFUNDIS 

PLUTARCH  tells  us  that  Alexander  the  Great, 
when  on  one  of  his  expeditions  with  his  victorious 
Macedonians,  summoned  the  Indian  sages  called  the 
Gymnosophists,  and  catechised  them.  To  one  of  them 
he  put  the  question,  "Which  is  the  craftiest  of  all 
animals  ? "  and  the  reply  was  given,  "  That  with  which 
man  is  not  yet  acquainted."  The  answer  of  the  Gymno- 
sophist  was  significant.  It  summed  up  the  results  of 
Pagan  thought  on  the  greatest  questions  of  human 
inquiry.     Man  was  not  yet  acquainted  with  himself 

The  enigma  of  human  life  is  as  old  as  thought  itself. 
But  human  life  cannot  be  interpreted  in  its  deeper 
significance  until  man  has  defined  and,  to  some  extent, 
explored  the  mysterious  and  profound  relations  in 
which  he  finds  himself  as  a  denizen  of  the  universe. 
He  cannot  know  himself  till  he  goes  beyond  himself. 
These  relations  give  the  reply  to  the  first  and  last 
interrogations  with  which  he  confronts  himself — Whence? 
Wherefore  ?  Whither  ?  Until  he  can  give  an  intelligent 
response  to  these  questions  he  is  not  acquainted  with 
himself 

What  are  these  relations  ?  As  soon  as  man  begins 
to  reflect  upon  life  he  discovers  that  he  is   related   to 


i6    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

two  worlds — the  world  around  and  the  world  above — 
nature  and  God,  He  instinctively  claims  affinities  with 
both.  He  is  part  of  the  natural  order  of  things,  subject 
to  the  laws  of  nature,  involved  in  the  struggle,  growth, 
decay,  and  death  of  all  animate  existence.  But  though 
his  feet  are  on  the  earth,  his  head  is  in  the  skies.  He 
is  conscious,  more  or  less  dimly,  of  relations  with  the 
supernatural.  He  knows  that  he  is  not  inextricably 
involved  in  nature,  as  a  mere  pin  or  wheel  in  the  vast 
mechanism  of  the  material  universe.  He  looks  above 
and  dreams  of  a  beyond.  To  him  alone  of  all  created 
existences  God  and  eternity  are  problems. 

Though  these  two  relations  have  always  been  more 
or  less  present  to  man's  thoughts,  the  relation  of  man 
to  nature  was  the  distinctive  problem  to  the  Pagan 
mind,  whilst  to  the  Jewish,  and  especially  to  the 
Christian  mind,  the  distinctive  problem  was  man's 
relation  to  the  supernatural.  But  as  man  could  not 
define  and  explore  his  relations  to  God  and  eternity 
until  these  relations  were  revealed  by  God  revealing 
Himself,  it  follows  that  man  could  not  understand 
the  deeper  significance  of  his  being  so  long  as  the  main 
problem  was  his  relation  to  the  natural  order.  It  is 
this  which  accounts  for  the  outstanding  defects  of  Pagan 
ethics,  and  of  all  ethics  which  are  purely  naturalistic. 
Man  cannot  know  himself  until  God  makes  Himself 
known. 

In  nothing  is  this  difference  of  the  estimate  of  man's 
nature  more  clearly  seen  than  in  the  conception  and 
estimate  of  sin.  To  the  Christian  mind  sin  is  something 
deplorable,  something  which  should  not  be,  which  may 
not  be;  something  foreign  to  man's  true  nature  as  in 
the  intention  of  the  Creator ;  something  which  involves 


DE   PROFUNDIS  17 

guilt.  It  is  rebellion,  disobedience,  self-pleasing,  self- 
assertion.  Why?  Simply  because  to  the  Christian 
mind  a  higher  conception  of  God  has  been  revealed, 
and  man  judges  himself  in  the  light  of  that  revelation. 
The  idea  of  God  interprets  the  nature  of  man.  God's 
holiness  reveals  and  condemns  man's  sin. 

By  the  Pagan  mind,  on  the  contrary,  though  sin  is 
often  spoken  of  in  language  which  has  a  Christian  ring, 
it  is  regarded  more  as  a  defect  of  nature.  It  is  not 
related  to  God  as  disobedience  to  His  holy  will.  It 
is  sickness,  deformity,  disease ;  but  its  moral  obliquity 
in  the  eyes  of  God  is  not  conceived.^  To  Plato  sin 
was  not  a  religious  conception,  as  to  the  Christian.  It 
was  essentially  aesthetic — a  breach  of  good  taste,  of 
proper  form.  "  That  is,  and  ever  will  be,  the  best  of 
sayings,  that  the  useful  is  the  noble,  and  the  hurtful 
is  the  base."'  "The  lie  in  the  soul  is  the  true  lie,  a 
corruption  of  the  highest  truth."'  Sin  is  hurtful,  a 
disease  of  man's  soul,  but  it  brings  no  agony,  no  remorse. 
It  is  a  defect  of  nature. 

In  the  same  way,  but  from  a  different  standpoint, 
the  Stoic  moralist  regards  sin.  The  evil  of  the  world, 
he  says,  is  part  of  the  order  of  nature.  It  is  necessary, 
and  we  must  make  the  best  of  it.  "  Does  your  cucumber 
taste  bitter  ? "  said  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  "  Let  it  alone. 
Are  there  brambles  in  your  way?  Avoid  them."*  It 
is  the  Stoic's  counsel  of  despair  in  face  of  the  inevit- 
able. For,  to  his  mind,  evil  is  inherent  in  man  and 
in  nature.     It  is,  and  must  be.     "An  eti emy  hdlh.  done 

»  Cf.  Hatch's  Hibbert  Lectures,  1888,  p.  159:  "To  the  Stoics 
it  [sin]  was  shortcoming,  failure,  and  loss :  the  chief  sufferer  was 
the  man  himself :  amendment  was  possible  for  the  future,  but  there 
was  no  forgiveness  for  the  past." 

»  Republic.  '  Ibid.  *  Meditations. 

2 


i8     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

this,"  ^  says  Jesus  Christ ;  and  a  great  ray  of  hope 
falls  upon  man  as  soon  as  he  can  think  God  has  not 
willed  sin  and  is  not  involved  in  it.  Take  yourself 
out  of  its  way,  says  the  Stoic.  Put  it  out  of  your  way, 
says  Christ ;  and  the  God  of  holiness  is  on  the  side 
of  every  man  who  seeks  to  make  the  attempt. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Scriptural  conception  of  man, 
we  are  arrested  by  the  fact  that  little  cognisance  is 
taken  of  man's  relation  to  nature — to  the  material  world 
or  even  to  the  political  and  civil  environment.  That 
is  the  standpoint  of  the  Pagan  mind.  The  Jewish 
and  Christian  mind  views  life  almost  solely  in  rela- 
tion to  God  and  eternity.  Nor  can  we  fail  to  observe 
the  severer  and  more  condemnatory  view  which  is 
taken  of  man.  Man  is  a  rebel,  a  culprit,  over  whom 
hangs  a  divine  sentence.  He  is  on  all  sides  brought 
into  vital  contact  with  God  ;  and  whilst  this  enlarges 
his  view  of  life,  it  also  deepens  his  consciousness  of 
sin.  Man's  sin,  as  an  act  of  disobedience  and  revolt, 
puts  him  into  a  hopeless  position  of  guilt — hopeless, 
except  God  intervenes  in  mercy  and  grace.  The  Scrip- 
tures with  pathetic  eloquence  tell  the  worst  of  man, 
and  sound  the  depth  of  his  guilt. 

But  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  there 
is  a  difference  which  may  mislead  us.  Where  in  all 
literature  do  we  find  such  sighings  of  shame,  such 
groanings  of  guilt,  such  passionate  importunities  of 
penitence,  such  heart-rending  cries  of  remorse,  as  in 
the  writings  of  the  psalmists  and  prophets  ?  No  Pagan 
writer  ever  struck  that  peculiar  note  of  human  woe 
and  misery.  And  why  ?  Because  no  Pagan  mind 
ever  heard  the  appeal  of  a  personal  God  for  love  and 

>  Matt.  xiii.  28. 


DE   PROFUNDIS  19 

obedience.  But  when  we  pass  into  the  New  Testament 
the  temperature  seems  to  change.  There  seems  to  be 
a  cooler  sense  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin.  The  writers  seem 
not  to  feel  so  keenly  the  sting  of  remorse.  They  do 
not  rend  the  heavens  with  their  passionate  cries  de 
profundis.  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  ?  Is  it  not 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  in  the  Old  Testament 
the  curse  was  more  keenly  felt  because  the  remedy 
was  less  keenly  perceived  ?  The  holiness  of  God 
accentuated  the  guilt  of  sin,  for  which  grace  had  not 
yet  revealed  the  perfect  atonement.  Whereas  in  the 
New  the  accent  of  self-despair  is  lost,  and  man  thinks 
of  the  sin  that  abounds  in  the  light  of  the  grace  which 
doth  much  more  abound.  Not  that  sin  is  less  sinful — 
it  is  more  sinful — to  the  Christian,  but  it  is  regarded  as 
a  smitten  enemy,  over  whom  Christ  is  seen  bending  as 
a  conqueror.  The  New  Testament  puts  the  accent  on 
the  Saviour  ;  and  the  agonising  note  of  remorse  and 
penitence  is  almost  lost  in  the  joyous  note  of  triumph. 

To  this  prevailing  temper  of  the  New  Testament 
writers  towards  sin  there  is  an  outstanding  exception — 
the  Apostle  Paul.  We  catch  in  him  again  the  passionate 
hate  of  sin  which  possessed  the  psalmists  and  the 
prophets.     We  may  say  of  him  as  Dante  said  of  Virgil  : 

•'  O  noble  conscience,  upright  and  refined, 
How  slight  a  fault  inflicts  a  bitter  sting! "• 

And  this  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that,  unlike 
the  Twelve,  who  tarried  with  Jesus  and  were  gradually 
won  to  Him  by  His  gentle  ministrations  of  grace,  he 
passed  in  a  moment  out  of  darkness  into  light,  and 
the  memory  of  his  darkness  remained  with  him  as 
the  great  regret  of  his  life.  The  sudden  cleavage  of 
*  Purgatorio,  iii. 


20    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

his  conversion  made  him  speak  of  sin  with  the  old 
accent  of  hate.  The  brighter  the  light  of  Christ  shone 
around  him,  the  deeper  grew  the  shadow  of  sin  upon 
his  path.  It  was  because  of  his  unique  experience 
that  he  is  the  only  apostle  who  is  heard  to  utter  such 
a  cry  as  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  ^ 

When  we  ask  the  question — How  does  Paul  conceive 
of  sin?  we  are  met  by  the  difficulty  that  his  teaching 
on  this  subject  is  only  incidental.  But  though  it  is 
only  incidental,  it  is  all-pervasive.  The  thought  of 
man's  sin  is  the  constant  undertone  in  all  his  marvellous 
exposition  of  the  love  of  God  and  of  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Yet  the  essential  nature  of  sin,  as  conceived 
by  the  Apostle  in  its  theological  bearings,  might  be 
summed  up  in  three  words — Alienation,  Disobedience, 
Bondage.  For  sin  is  not  merely  an  act,  or  a  series 
of  acts,  or  an  aggregation  of  acts,  but  a  state  of  mind 
and  will  which  breaks  out  in  act,  and  which  is  aggravated 
and  intensified  by  every  act  in  which  it  expresses  itself 
against  the  will  of  God. 

Alienation.  In  Eph.  iv.  i8,  19,  the  Apostle  inci- 
dentally presents  to  us  a  living  picture  of  sin.  It 
portrays  the  life-walk  of  the  sinner  as  seen  in  that 
of  the  Gentiles  :  "  Being  darkened  in  their  under- 
standing, alienated  from  the  life  of  God  because  of 
the  ignorance  that  is  in  them,  because  of  the  hardening 
of  their  heart ;  who  being  past  feeling  gave  themselves 
up  to  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with 
greediness."'  In  this  graphic  representation  of  sin 
there  are  several  movements  describing  the  sinner  as 
he  descends  the  inclined  plane  of  sin.  We  see  him 
»  Rom,  vii.  24.  »  R.V. 


DE   PROFUNDIS  21 

emerging  into  our  view  with  a  heart  hardened  as  steel 
against  all  that  is  good  and  true.  His  back  is  evidently 
turned  towards  God.  The  hardening  of  the  moral 
nature  leads  to  the  darkening  of  the  intellect.  The 
loss  of  purity  of  heart  is  the  forfeiture  of  the  vision 
of  God.  But  as  he  travels  farther  in  this  state  of 
vanity  of  mind/  he  becomes  an  utter  alien  from  the 
life  which  is  of  God,  losing  sympathy  with,  and  interest 
in,  holy  things ;  and,  begetting  a  distaste  to  God,  he 
becomes  as  a  foreigner.  Then  the  corruption  of  the 
whole  moral  nature  sets  in,  for  the  life  of  God  no  longer 
pulsates  in  the  veins.  He  is  "  past  feeling  "  ;  has  ceased 
to  feel  the  pain  of  sin,  is  dead  to  the  appeals  of 
conscience  and  the  stings  of  remorse ;  and  at  last  he 
"  gives  himself  over,"  like  a  bondslave,  to  work  unclean- 
ness,  as  the  business  of  his  life,^  with  covetousness.  We 
have  not  here  a  cool  philosophical  analysis  of  sin  ; 
it  is  the  moralist's  vision  of  sin,  in  which  the  deadly 
life-walk  of  the  sinner  is  presented  in  its  movements 
from  spiritual  apathy  to  moral  disintegration. 

Disobedience.  Sin  is  not  only  alienation  from  the  life 
of  God  ;  it  is  also  disobedience  to  the  law  of  God. 
God's  will  when  expressed  to  man  in  nature,  conscience, 
or  statute,  becomes  the  law  of  life  to  man.  The  law 
and  the  life  are  both  derived  from  the  same  source, 
and  when  the  latter  does  not  conform  to  the  former 
there  is  sin.  "Where  no  law  is,  there  is  no  trans- 
gression."' "By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all  have  sinned."  *     But  what  was  the  essence 

•  Eph.  V.  17. 

•  Cf.  R. V.  margin :  "  to  make  a  trade  of "  uncleannesS'. 

•  Rom.  iv.  15.  *  Ibid.  v.  12. 


22     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

of  that  sin  of  one,  which  was  the  starting-point  of  the 
sin  of  all  ?  It  was  disobedience :  "  By  one  man's 
disobedience  many  were  made  sinners."  ^  And,  just 
as  condemnation  followed  the  moral  act  of  disobedience, 
so  the  moral  act  of  obedience  is  followed  by  justifica- 
tion :  "  So  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be 
made  righteous."  ^  But  Paul  conceived  of  this  dis- 
obedience as  a  strange  and  hostile  spirit  which  possessed 
men,  and  made  them,  although  dead  men — dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins — walk  with  all  the  appearance  of 
life.  "  And  you  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins ;  wherein  in  time  past  ye 
walked  .  ,  .  according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of 
the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience."'  Nor  is  this  all.  This  disobedience 
has,  to  Paul's  mind,  become  a  universal  disposition  of 
the  race,  and  constitutes  the  depravity  of  man  which 
evokes  the  mercy  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  "  God  hath 
shut  up  all  unto  disobedience,  that  He  might  have 
mercy  upon  all."* 

Bondage.  This  is  another  expressive  figure  by  which 
Paul  represents  sin  :  it  is  bondage  to  a  strange  master. 
The  "  servants  of  sin  "  ^  permit  sin  to  reign  in  their 
mortal  body  like  a  hard  taskmaster,  and  obey  it  in  its 
lusts,®  yielding  their  members  as  its  instruments,^  and 
at  last  drawing  its  wages — death.® 

Thus  Paul  depicts  the  course  of  sin  as  beginning 
with  alienation  from  the  life  of.  God,  an  attitude  of 
aversion  to  God  ;  and  then  passing  into  positive 
disobedience,  and  ending  in  the  sinner's  giving  himself 

'  Rom.  V.  19.         *  Ibid.   19.  •  Eph.  ii.  i,  2. 

*■  Rom.  xi.  32,  R.V.     *  Ibid.  vi.  20.        •  Ibid.   12. 
»  Ibid,  13.  •  Ibid.  23. 


DE   PROFUNDIS  23 

over  in  allegiance  to  a  power  foreign  to  his  nature 
and  opposed  to  God.  It  is  interesting  to  note  tiiat 
in  this  diagnosis  of  sin  Paul  follows  the  pathological 
teaching  of  Jesus  in  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.^ 
The  same  three  movements  appear  in  the  history  of 
the  sin  of  the  younger  son. 

First :  the  restraint  of  the  father's  presence  becomes 
irksome ;  the  holy  peace  of  the  home  depresses  ;  the 
youth  is  out  of  sympathy  with  an  environment  which 
does  not  satisfy  his  newly  awakened  desires.  He 
claims  freedom  and  money  and  sets  out  into  the  far 
country.  What  is  it  but  alienation  from  the  life  of 
God? 

Next :  he  wastes  his  substance  in  riotous  living. 
He  throws  off  the  laws  of  the  life  of  the  old  home, 
and  becomes  a  law  to  himself  What  is  it  but  dis- 
obedience to  the  law  of  God  ? 

Lastly :  he  joins  himself  to  a  citizen  of  that  country. 
He  passes  himself  over  to  a  power  foreign  to  his 
parentage ,  to  feed  swine  and  to  feed  with  the  swine. 
What  is  this  but  bondage  to  sin — the  self-surrender 
of  a  child  of  God  to  become  a  child  of  disobedience, 
a  servant  of  sin  ? 

But  perhaps  the  most  striking  conception  of  sin  in 
the  writings  of  Paul  is  that  in  which  he  mentally 
detaches  it  from  man,  and  views  it  as  a  great  universal 
power  which  broods  over  man  and  holds  him  in  cruel 
thraldom.  He  seems  to  gather  up  his  thoughts  of 
sin  into  one  grand  and  awful  personification,  which 
challenges  man's  holiness  and  salvation,  and  lifts  itself 
proudly  up  as  the  arch-enemy  of  God's  grace  and 
Christ's  atonement — as  something  apart  from  and 
•  Luke  XV,  1 1- 1 7. 


24     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

above  man,  striving  against  the  divine  will  and  pur- 
pose. He  sees  the  gate  of  paradise  flung  open  by  one 
man's  disobedience,  and  this  strange  power  steps  into 
the  world  accompanied  by  its  dread  shadow  :  "  Sin 
entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin."  ^  He  scans 
the  pages  of  Jewish  and  Gentile  history,  and  finds  none 
free  unto  God  :  "  they  are  all  under  sin."  ^  All  are  "in 
bondage  to  sin." '  Sin  reigns  like  a  tyrant  in  our 
"  mortal  body,"  *  and  reigns  "  unto  death."  *  The 
tyrant  has  his  own  "  law  of  sin,"  which  contests  our 
allegiance  to  the  "  law  of  God."  ^  Sin  deceives  us  and 
slays  us.^  Sometimes  sin,  when  unconfronted  in  its 
rule,  is  so  quiescent  that  it  seems  to  be  dead,  and  we 
alive ;  but,  when  confronted  by  the  law  of  God,  sin 
revives  and  we  die.*  We  are  "  sold  under  sin,"  ® 
like  slaves  in  a  market.  Sin,  indeed,  seems  to  dispute 
our  very  personality,  and  to  become  our  alter  ego : 
"it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dvvelleth 
in  me. 

'  Rom.  V.  12.  »  Ibid.  iii.  9.  »  Ibid.  vi.  6,  R.V. 

*  Ibid.  12.  *  Ibid.  v.  21.  *  Ibid.  vii.  25. 

^  Ibid.  II.  «  Ibid.   9.  "  Ibid.  14. 

"  Ibid.  17.     Vide  Weizsacker's  Apostolic  Age,  i.  148. 


THE    WAY   OUT  AND    THE     WAY  IN 


as 


"  We  will  trust  God.     The  blank  interstices 
Men  take  for  ruins,  He  will  build." 

E.  B.  Browning. 

"What  a  terrible  hell  science  would  have  made  of  the  world,  if  she 
had  abolished  the  'spirit  of  faith'  even  in  human  relations." — Romanes, 
Thoughts  on  Religion. 

"God  enters  by  a  private  door  into  every  individual." — Emerson. 

"The  smallest  seed  of  faith  is  more  worth  than  the  largest  fruit  of 
happiness." 

Thoreau's  Essays. 


86 


CHAPTER    III 
THE    WAY    OUT  AND    THE    WAY  IN 

PAUL  is  not  blind  to  the  fact  that  the  desire  for 
God  and  the  instinct  for  holiness  still  linger 
with  fallen  man  and  are  clamant  for  satisfaction.  But, 
according  to  Paul,  the  experience  of  the  world  is  that 
by  wisdom  it  cannot  know  God,^  and  that  the  instinct 
for  holiness  is  frustrated  by  an  intractable  element  in 
our  nature  which  defies  our  will.  "  The  good  that  I 
would,  I  do  not :  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that 
I  do."^  The  efforts  of  reason  and  the  experiments 
of  moral  endeavour  fail.  Man  realises  the  necessity 
of  salvation,  feels  the  need  and  the  desire,  but  is 
paralysed  by  spiritual  and  moral  inability.  Unless 
God  reveals  Himself,  He  cannot  be  known ;  unless 
He  meets  us  with  an  offer  of  grace,  we  cannot  attain 
the  holiness  to  which  we  aspire.  This  is  the  cul  de  sac 
into  which  man  is  driven  by  all  that  remains  of  the 
best  of  his  nature.  He  must  find  a  way  out  of  sin 
before  he  can  find  a  way  into  holiness. 

The  remedy  comes  from  God,  and  comes  in  the 
Gospel.  We  cannot  imagine  that  a  good  God  would 
maintain  such  a  world  of  sin  had  He  not  a  plan  where- 
with to  remedy  its  evils.     Granted  a  good  God,  there 

*  I  Cor.  i.  21.  »  Rom.  vii.  19. 

a7 


28     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

must  be  provision  for  a  better  world.  This  is  Paul's 
"  purpose  of  the  ages."  ^  The  Gospel  is  a  new  force 
introduced  into  the  life  of  humanity.  It  is  the  "  power 
of  God  unto  salvation." '  And  what  is  this  Gospel  ? 
No  single  definition  can  exhaust  its  contents.  It  is 
a  mine  which  we  can  never  bring  into  our  mint.  The 
Apostle  seizes  the  salient  features  of  it  in  the  words, 
"  Therein  [i.e.  in  the  Gospel]  is  the  righteousness  of 
God  revealed  from  faith  to  faith :  as  it  is  written, 
The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  ^  The  "  righteousness 
of  God "  which  is  revealed  in  the  Gospel  must  not, 
however,  be  mistaken  for  that  righteousness  which  is 
the  quality  and  attribute  of  God.  The  Gospel  does 
not  consist  in  the  revelation  of  God  as  a  righteous 
God.  That  revelation  was  made  long  before  the 
Gospel.  It  means  "a  righteousness"*  which  has  its 
source  in,  and  proceeds  from,  the  righteous  God ;  a 
righteousness  which,  so  far  as  man  is  concerned,  is 
appropriated  by  faith. 

The  significance  of  this  Gospel  of  grace  as  a  message 
of  hope  to  the  man  who  has  been  baffled  in  his 
search  after  a  righteousness  in  which  he  may  stand 
before  God  is  seen  when  we  gather  together  the 
scattered  references  to  it.  Here  is  the  very  marrow 
of  the  Gospel.  From  one  point  of  view — that  of  the 
recipients — the  means  by  which  this  grace  comes  to 
them  is  "  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,"  the  embodi- 
ment of  all  grace.  And  even  this  faith,  which  is  in 
a  sense  the  condition  on  which  we  are  counted  righteous 
by  God,  is  not  meritorious  as  a  condition  which  we 
ourselves  create.    It  is  a  capacity  for  righteousness  which 

*  Eph.  iii.  II,  R.V.  margin  :  cf.  Rom.  ix.  il. 

•  Rom.  i.  i6.  »  Idid.  17.  «  /did.  R.V. 


THE  WAY  OUT  AND  THE  WAY  IN  29 

is  created  within  us  by  the  wondrous  grace  of  God 
which  is  manifested  in  Christ.  Faith  itself  is  a  divine 
creation.  It  is  our  yielding  to  the  overtures  of  pardon 
and  deliverance  and  acceptance.  We  will  to  be  saved, 
because  God  wills  to  save.  It  is  a  new  attitude  of 
the  soul  towards  God  occasioned  by  a  new  attitude 
of  God  toward  the  soul.^ 

But  from  another  point  of  view — that  of  the  bestower 
— the  means  by  which  this  grace  is  secured  for  man 
is  "through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." ^ 
For  the  verdict  of  acquittal  and  acceptance  is  not  a 
mere  sentence  which  God  pronounces ;  it  is  not  an 
arbitrary  act  of  God  behind  which  man  cannot  see. 
It  is  founded  on  the  great  and  manifest  deed  of  de- 
liverance effected  on  the  cross  by  Jesus  Christ,  "  whom 
God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation "  for  all,  rendered 
effective  for  each  "  through  faith,  by  His  blood."  ^ 
The  Gospel,  therefore,  proclaims  our  deliverance  from 
guilt  and  our  acceptance  by  God  because  Christ  has 
offered  Himself  as  a  propitiation  for  our  sins ;  and  the 
apprehension  of  that  divine  sacrifice  produces  in  us 
that  faith  which  appropriates  the  benefits  which  accrue 
from  it. 

What,  then,  is  the  ground  upon  which  the  sinner  rests 
his  hope?  It  is  the  verdict  which  God  passes  upon 
him,  in  which  God,  of  His  free  grace,  accounts  him  as 
righteous  and  receives  him  into  His  favour,  not  on 
account  of  any  personal  righteousness,  but  on  account 
of  the  sinner's  faith  and  the  Saviour's  sacrifice. 

It  is  evident  that  Paul  regards  it  as  impossible  to  be 
righteous  before  God  by  accumulation  of  deeds  or  by 

*  2  Cor.  V.  14 :  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us." 
»  Rom.  iii.  24.  »  Ibid.  25,  R.V. 


30    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

moral  self-assertion.  It  is  not  what  we  do  or  endeavour 
which  counts  before  God  :  it  is  what  we  are.  We  have 
no  power  in  ourselves  to  cleanse  the  heart.  The  root 
and  seed  of  sin  are  there,  decorate  our  lives  as  we  may 
with  blossoms  of  endeavour  and  fruits  of  goodly  deeds. 
It  has  been  the  experience  of  the  most  saintly  men 
that  all  attempts  at  self-righteousness  deepen  the  sense 
of  sin  and  despair.  Neither  knowledge  nor  moral 
endeavour  can  find  or  forge  the  key  that  opens  the 
door  into  the  presence  of  a  reconciled  and  righteous 
God.  This  has  been  done  by  Christ  for  us,  by  the 
propitiation  He  offered  for  our  sin  and  by  His  homage 
of  obedience.  He  presents  the  key  to  us.  Faith  alone 
can  take  it ;  and  even  our  faith  only  awakens  with 
the  gracious  offer.  So  that  salvation  by  grace  through 
faith  is  the  one  hope  of  sinners  ;  and  the  glory  of  it 
from  first  to  last  is  to  be  attributed  to  God  alone,  who 
has  manifested  His  wondrous  grace  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  has  imputed  to  us  a  righteousness  not  our  own, 
in  virtue  of  our  faith  in  Him. 

There  are  many  questions,  however,  which  gather 
around  this  doctrine,  which  is  the  very  kernel  of  the 
Gospel.  It  may  be  said  that  the  faith  which  justifies 
requires  itself  to  be  justified.  What  is  this  faith  ?  Is 
it  a  substitute  for  knowledge  ?  Is  it  merely  another 
superstition  ?  What  is  the  relation  of  this  faith  to 
reason?  Is  it  spiritually  effective  ?  To  these  questions 
we  may  attempt  to  give  some  answer. 

What  is  faith  ?  It  is  our  surrender  to  God's  grace : 
the  outgoing  of  our  intuitions  and  instincts  to  grasp 
and  appropriate  the  offer  and  appeal  which  God  makes 
to  us  in  Jesus  Christ.  Something  is  presented  to  us 
in   the   Gospel    which    meets    the   deepest   needs   and 


THE   WAY   OUT   AND  THE   WAY   IN     31 

highest  aspirations  of  our  nature,  and  our  nature  goes 
out  to  meet  it  as  a  prearranged  satisfaction.  This 
response  of  our  being  is  faith,  and  the  evidence  of  its 
trustworthiness  is  to  be  found  in  the  experience  of 
satisfaction  which  is  the  result.  As  h"ght  satisfies  the 
eye,  as  food  hunger,  as  water  thirst,  so  grace  satisfies 
our  faith,  bringing  with  it  its  own  verification.  Paul 
regards  it  as  a  matter  of  the  inmost  being,  the  heart — 
the  affections,  the  instincts,  the  intuitions  of  the  whole 
man— the  answer  of  our  nature  to  its  author :  "  with 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness  "  ;  ^  "  where- 
as ye  were  servants  of  sin,  ye  became  obedient  from 
the  heart  to  that  form  of  teaching  whereunto  ye  were 
delivered."^ 

Is  faith  a  substitute  for  knowledge  ?  Is  knowledge 
set  aside  as  an  unnecessary  attainment  in  the  Christian 
life?  The  answer  to  this  question  is  that  knowledge 
is  one  of  the  ends  to  be  attained  and  enjoyed  by  faith. 
Faith  is  God  shining  in  our  hearts  and  verifying  Himself 
to  our  nature,  as  light  verifies  itself  to  the  eye.  "  God," 
says  Paul,  "shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  illumination 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ."  ^  Just  as  in  science  some  of  the  greatest 
discoveries  have  been  made  by  ventures  of  faith,  fore- 
castings  of  the  intuitions,  vaticinations  of  genius  that 
have  led  afterwards  to  a  knowledge  of  natural  phenomena 
which  has  satisfied  the  demands  of  reason  ;  so  in  religion 
faith  is  a  means  of  knowledge ;  and,  instead  of  dis- 
pensing with  knowledge,  it  creates  the  conditions  under 
which  revelation  can  be  apprehended,  and  stimulates 
the  passion  for  knowing  what  it  signifies.  "  I  count 
all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 

'  Rom.  X.  10.     *  Ibid.  vi.  17,  R.V.     *  2  Cor.  iv.  6,  R.V.  margin. 


32     CULTURE   OF   THE  SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord,"  says  the  Apostle  ;  and  he 
"suffered  the  loss  of  all  things"  that  he  might  have 
that  righteousness  "  which  is  of  God  by  faith."  And 
why  ?  As  a  means  to  an  end  :  "  that  I  may  know  Him, 
and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship 
of  His  sufferings."  ^ 

What,  however,  is  the  relation  of  Christian  faith  to 
reason  ?  It  is  absurd  to  expect  that  faith  should  justify 
itself  at  the  bar  of  reason  by  producing  the  evidence 
upon  which  it  is  based.  If  we  could  prove  the  necessity 
of  believing  in  Christ  by  evidence  that  would  satisfy 
the  intellect,  the  need  for  faith  would  not  exist.  Faith 
in  a  person  is  very  different  from  belief  in  a  theorem 
of  Euclid  or  a  law  of  astronomy.  The  latter  presupposes 
and  evokes  no  moral  qualities,  no  spiritual  consequences. 
Faith  in  Christ  is  the  answer  of  soul  to  soul.  We  may 
have  reasons  for  our  faith — moral  and  spiritual  reasons, 
which  evade  all  scientific  analysis  or  statement,  and 
so  we  may  not  be  able  to  produce  our  reasons  as 
sufficient  evidence.  Ask  a  husband  to  produce  his 
evidence  for  having  faith  in  his  wife ;  or  let  him  even 
ask  himself.  He  might  write  down  a  dozen  reasons 
and  then  he  would  laugh  at  the  absurd  demand,  and  at 
the  more  absurd  attempt  to  meet  it.  He  feels  that 
his  reasons  are  no  reasons.  The  reasons  upon  which 
his  faith  is  founded  have  been  acquired  by  the  ac- 
cumulation of  innumerable  impressions  received,  often 
unconsciously,  from  deeds  and  gestures  and  looks  which 
have  convinced  not  merely  his  mind,  but  his  moral 
nature.  So  with  our  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  may 
have  much  reason  for  our  faith,  and  yet  not  be  able 
to  produce  our  reasons  to  satisfy  reason.  And  it  is  this 
1  Phil.  iii.  8-IO. 


THE  WAY  OUT  AND  THE  WAY  IN  33 

fact  which  makes  the  Gospel  a  message  of  hope  and 
life  to  the  simple  and  unlettered  and  unleisured  man, 
not  the  perquisite  of  the  philosopher  and  the  scientist. 
God  commands  all  men  to  believe,  but  He  does  not 
demand  that  all  men  should  be  able  to  satisfy  their 
own  reason,  or  the  reason  of  others,  with  correct  proofs 
of  their  faith.^ 

Is  Christian  faith  spiritually  effective?  In  regard 
to  this,  Paul  speaks  with  the  accent  of  certainty,  a 
certainty  based  upon  his  own  conversion  experience. 
At  that  critical  moment  he  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  from  an  old  world  into  a  new.  His  struggle  for 
self-righteousness  was  given  up,  and  he  found  righteous- 
ness by  faith.  The  life  that  was  begotten  in  him  by 
faith  through  grace  was  "a  new  creation."^  It  was 
not  a  change  in  form  of  obedience  or  devotion,  not 
a  new  ritual,  "  For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision 
availeth  anything  nor  uncircumcision."  ^  These  were 
matters  of  indifference  now,  for  the  end  they  had  in  view 
was  attained  in  another  way.  The  old  regimen  was 
superseded  by  a  new  ethic,  springing  naturally  out  of 
a  new  life.  He  gloried  in  this  new  life,  which  issued 
like  a  fountain  from  the  cross,  by  which  the  world 
was  crucified  unto  him  and  he  unto  the  world.* 

But  though  he  finds  the  old  world  dead  to  him 
and  himself  dead  to  the  old  world,  he  knows  that 
salvation  is  not  a  mere  negation  of  himself  and  the 
world.  He  is  risen  with  Christ.  He  is  so  identified 
with  Christ  in  spiritual  union  that  his  lost  identity  is 
found   again   in   a   richer   and   fuller   and   freer  life  in 

*  On  the  influence  of  reason  on  faith,  vide  Romanes,  Thoughts 
on  Religion^  pp.  137,  138  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.   1904). 
»  G-l,  vi.  15,  R.V.  margin.  »  Ibid.  15.  ■•  Ibid.  14. 

3 


34    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

Christ :  "  Nevertheless  I  live  ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me."^  The  spiritual  efficiency  of  faith  is  verified 
by  his  personal  experience  :  "  the  life  which  I  now  live 
in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the  Son 
of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  up  for  me."  ' 
And  the  crucified  world  has  also  undergone  a  resurrec- 
tion. The  new  life  finds  a  new  environment.  "Old 
things  are  passed  away " — the  old  sorrows  and  sins, 
ambitions  and  aims  and  strivings  and  ideals  are  things 
of  the  past ;  "  behold,  all  things  are  become  new." ' 
The  cross  has  vanquished  the  old  man  within  and  the 
old  world  around,  and  the  new  life  is  sustained  by  a 
new  motive  :  "  He  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live 
should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto 
Him  which  died  for  them  and  rose  again."  * 

The  experience  of  Paul  is  not  unique.  The  miracle 
of  his  resurrection  into  the  new  life  of  faith  and  righteous- 
ness is  the  daily  miracle  by  which  Christ  keeps  alive 
His  Church  in  the  world.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the 
saints  that  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  they  are  born  into 
a  new  world  ;  are  accepted  by  and  reconciled  to 
God,  who  has  proved  His  love  upon  the  cross  ;  are 
delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  sin  ;  and  enter  upon  a 
life  of  holiness,  happiness,  and  hope,  which,  apart  from 
faith  in  Christ,  they  could  not  even  have  discovered. 
And  this  perennial  testimony  of  Christian  experience 
is  accepted  even  by  those  who  have  long  withstood 
the  claims  of  faith  in  their  devotion  to  the  claims  of 
reason.  The  words  of  George  John  Romanes  are  very 
significant :  "  I  take  it,  then,  as  unquestionably  true 
that  this   whole    negative    side    of   the    subject   [that 

•  Gal.  ii.  20.  '  Ibid.  ii.  20,  R.V.  •  2  Cor.  v.  17, 

«  Ibid.  15. 


THE   WAY   OUT   AND   THE   WAY   IN     35 

of  agnosticism]  proves  a  vacuum  in  the  soul  of  man 
which  nothing  can  fill  save  faith  in  God.  Now  take 
the  positive  side.  Consider  the  happiness  of  religious — 
and  chiefly  of  the  highest  religious,  i.e.  Christian — belief. 
It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that,  besides  being  most  intense, 
it  is  most  enduring,  growing,  and  never  staled  by  custom. 
In  short,  according  to  the  universal  testimony  of  those 
who  have  it,  it  differs  from  all  other  happiness  not  only 
in  degree,  but  in  kind.  Those  who  have  it  can  usually 
testify  to  what  they  used  to  be  without  it.  It  has  no 
relation  to  intellectual  status.  It  is  a  thing  by  itself 
and  supreme."^ 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  imagine  that 
the  faith  which  plays  so  important  a  part  in  our  justi- 
fication is  a  mere  formality  devoid  of  any  ethical  value. 
If  it  were  only  demanded  that  we  give  our  intellectual 
assent  to  some  truth,  or  our  passive  acquiescence  in 
the  acceptance  of  a  righteousness  imputed  to  us  by 
grace,  the  moral  unwholesomeness  of  faith  would  be 
apparent,  and  it  might  with  justice  be  called  a  "  cardinal 
sin."  No  one,  however,  who  has  seriously  studied  the 
Pauline  Epistles  can  think  of  Christian  faith  as  a  mere 
make-believe  of  credulity.  The  faith  that  Paul  advocates 
stirs  the  very  depths  of  our  nature,  makes  a  great  moral 
demand,  and  effects  a  complete  moral  revolution.  It 
is  the  supreme  act  of  the  soul  in  yielding  to  the  authority 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  But  the  free 
decision  thus  made  is  itself  a  moral  choice  which  does 
not  exhaust  itself  in  the  act.  It  implies  the  capacity 
and  will  to  be  righteous  as  well  as  acquiescence  in  being 
counted  righteous. 

The  Christian  life  begins  by  the  apprehension   and 
*  Thoughts  on  Religion ,  p.  152. 


36    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

acceptance  of  God's  gracious  declaration  of  goodwill 
toward  the  sinner  because  of  the  atoning  death  of  Jesus 
Christ,  with  whom  the  sinner  has  been  identified  by 
faith.  The  sinner  falls  back  upon  this  act  of  grace.  It 
brings  with  it  as  an  accompaniment  "  peace  with  God,"^ 
because  it  assures  him  of  God's  forgiveness.  He  stands 
now  in  a  new  relation  to  God.  He  is  no  longer  under 
wrath  and  condemnation,  which  are  inseparable  from 
a  state  of  unforgiven  sin.  The  door  of  grace  is  open 
to  him,  and  he  crosses  the  threshold  at  the  moment 
his  faith  accepts  the  divine  declaration.  He  is  recon- 
ciled to  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  "by  whom  also 
we  have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we 
stand." » 

But  the  Christian  in  his  new  standing  sees  the  end 
from  the  beginning,  and  moves  towards  it  by  the 
gracious  propulsion  of  hope,  sustained  by  the  joy  which 
always  attends  hope.  We  "  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory 
of  God."  ^  Nor  is  this  all.  This  justification  is  a  seed 
which  cannot  remain  as  a  dead  thing  in  the  soul.  It 
has  life,  potency,  growth :  it  forestalls  and  anticipates. 
It  enables  us  to  interpret  life  in  a  new  way,  and  to 
handle  its  events  in  a  different  spirit,  assured  that  our 
acceptance  by  God  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  will 
stand  valid  all  through  life  and  even  beyond.  "  We 
glory  in  tribulations  also :  knowing  that  tribulation 
worketh  patience  ;  and  patience,  experience  ;  and  ex- 
perience hope  :  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed  ;  because 
the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto  us."  *  In  the  whole  of 
this  passage  Paul  asserts  the  validity  of  our  justifica- 
tion, not  only  as  a  momentary  act,  but  as  enduring 
»  Rom.  V.  I.  *  Ibid.  2.  ^  Ibid.  «  Ibid.  3-5. 


THE  WAY  OUT  AND  THE  WAY  IN  37 

through  time  to  eternity :  "  Whom  He  justified, 
them  He  also  glorified."  ^  But  he  does  more :  he 
relates  it  to  our  sanctification,  as  a  means  to  an 
end,  for  glory  is  only  attained  by  our  perfecting  in 
holiness. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  Paul  does 
not  regard  the  work  of  salvation  as  completed  by  our 
justification.  We  are  only  put  thereby  into  position 
for  the  moral  and  spiritual  renewal  which  is  expected 
to  follow.  Being  "reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of 
His  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be 
saved  by  His  life." '  The  work  of  our  salvation  is 
begun  by  the  death  of  Christ,  but  it  is  continued  by 
His  resurrection  life,  which  we  share  in  virtue  of  our 
union  with  Him.  And  this  contention  is  borne  out  in 
another  striking  manner.  God  judges  man  during  his 
lifetime  by  the  faith  which  he  cherishes,  but  at  the  last 
God  judges  by  his  works  as  the  fruit  of  his  faith— by 
the  personal  righteousness  which  has  issued  from  the 
righteousness  imputed  to  him  at  the  first.  At  the  great 
assize  He  "  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
deeds,"  ^  "  for  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things 
done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done, 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad."*  The  basis  of  the  final 
judgment  is  our  sanctification. 

Sanctification  is  a  process,  but  it  is  not  a  process 
which  we  are  left  to  work  out  for  ourselves.  In  this 
there  is  co-operation  between  God  and  man.  Paul, 
indeed,  realises  that  in  the  Christian  life  every  effort  of 
man,  even  his  faith,  has  its  origin  and  power  in  God, 
who,  by  the  manifestations  of  his  abundant  grace,  wins 

*  Rom.  viii.  30.       *  Ibid.  v.  10.      •  Ibid.  ii.  6.      *  2  Cor.  v.  10. 


38    CULTURE  OF  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

the  free  consent  of  man's  will  and  constrains  his  moral 
energy  by  His  overwhelming  love.  No  flesh  can  glory 
in  His  presence.  Still,  in  the  attainment  of  holiness 
there  is  co-operation  :  "  We  through  the  Spirit  wait 
for  the  hope  of  righteousness  by  faith.  For  in  Jesus 
Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor 
uncircumcision  ;  but  faith  which  worketh  by  love."  ^ 
God's  Spirit  directing  us,  our  faith  yielding  to  be 
directed — these  two  carry  forward  the  gracious  work 
by  which  we  are  perfected. 

What  is  this  life  of  sanctification  ?  It  may  be  called 
the  spiritual  life  or  the  Christian  life,  but  it  is  a  mistake 
to  think  of  it  as  a  life  by  itself.  It  is  not  a  special 
cult,  a  new  regimen,  a  ritual.  What  is  new  in  it  is 
the  spirit,  not  the  circumstance  ;  the  man,  not  the  en- 
vironment. It  is  not  something  apart  from  life,  but 
life  ;  not  leaven,  but  leaven  in  the  lump  ;  not  fire,  but 
fire  with  fuel.  To  Paul  the  Christian  life  of  sanctification 
is  a  life  which  does  not  take  us  out  of  common  life, 
but  reinstates  us  in  it :  a  life  which  does  not  consist 
in  the  bestowal  of  extraordinary  powers,  but  in  the 
sublimation  of  our  ordinary  powers.  The  true  charac- 
teristics of  the  Christian  are  not  that  he  speaks  with 
tongues,  or  heals  the  sick,  or  sees  visions,  but  that  in 
the  ordinary  relations  of  everyday  life  he  exhibits 
Christian  temper  and  feeling  and  kindliness.  "  The 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is "  for  everyday  use,  "  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek- 
ness, temperance."^ 

To  the  Apostle  Paul  there  is  no  divorce  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  common  life.  His  religious  teaching, 
even  in  its  highest  flights,  has  an  ethical  tendency.     His 

•  Gal.  V.  5,  6.  *  Ibid.  22,  23. 


THE  WAY  OUT  AND  THE  WAY  IN  39 

thoughts  may  soar  into  heavenly  places,  but  he  never 
forgets  that  the  sacred  fire  of  holiness  is  kept  alive 
by  the  fuel  which  we  gather  from  our  ordinary  life  in 
the  world.  There  were  around  him  many  who  in 
different  ways  would  dissociate  the  Christian  life  from 
the  everyday  affairs  of  men  and  make  the  Church  a 
mere  order  of  prescribed  rituals,  devotions,  and  fastings, 
but  the  sanity  of  Paul  preserved  the  breadth  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  sanctification  as  a  vocation  suitable 
for  all  men.  The  inherent  tendency  of  human  nature 
to  adopt  distinctive  rules  more  readily  than  to  submit 
to  the  all-round  domination  of  a  new  spirit  manifests 
itself  in  many  ways.  Sometimes  we  see  it  in  great 
devotion  to  ritual  and  punctiliousness  in  prayer,  con- 
joined with  a  life  lived  out  on  a  very  low  moral  plane. 
Sometimes  we  see  it  manifesting  itself  in  the  use  of 
mere  technical  religious  language  and  conventional 
shibboleths  of  orthodoxy,  without  any  corresponding 
sanctity  of  thought  or  action.  Sometimes  it  takes 
the  form  of  extreme  devotion  to  the  business  of  the 
house  of  God,  with  such  an  amazing  laxity  in  the 
business  of  the  world  as  breeds  contempt.  The  glory 
of  Paul's  teaching  is  that  it  regards  the  spiritual 
life  as  a  life  that  can  be  lived  by  all  men  and 
under  all  conditions.  We  may  bake  bread,  mend 
shoes,  build  ships,  or  preach  sermons — it  is  not 
the  thing  we  do,  but  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  done 
which  makes  it  spiritual  or  secular.  Our  religion 
must  be  good  for  everything  or  it  is  good  for 
nothing. 

The  nature  of  this  life  of  sanctification  may  be 
seen  by  the  contrast  between  the  old  life  and  the  new, 
which    Paul   presents   to   us   in   a   striking  passage   in 


40    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the    Epistle   to    the   Ephesians.^      Although  it   has  its 
source  far  up   in  the  great   altitudes   where   the   spirit 
inhales  its  power  and  faith  drinks  deep  of  the  fountain 
of  grace  and  becomes  energised  by  the  love  of  God, 
yet  it  flows  down  like  a  serviceable  river  into  the  plain 
where   the  common   workaday  traffic   is  being  carried 
on,  and  becomes  the  driving  force  of  all  the  machinery 
of  life  by  which  man's  moral  worth  is  at  once  educated 
and  tested.     The  association  of  truth  and  righteousness, 
of    religion     and     morals,    is    characteristic    of    Paul's 
teaching.      He    finds    the    highest    sanctions    for   our 
commonest   duties,   and   makes   our    daily   conduct    a 
daily  devotion   to  God.     We  see   this  characteristic  in 
the  contrast  of  the  old  life  and  the  new  in  the  passage 
referred  to.     The   Christian   is   to   be   renewed   in   the 
spirit  of  his   mind — to  get   the  new  spirit  which  finds 
for  itself  new  rules  of  life.     He  is  to  put  on  the  "  new 
man."     This,  however,  implies  a  changed  life.     Instead 
of    falsehood,   we   speak    every    man    truth    with    his 
neighbour.     Why  ?     "  Because  we  are  members  one  of 
another."     Theft  gives  place  to  honest  labour.     Why  ? 
That   we   may   be   generous   and    "  give   to   him   that 
needeth."     "  Corrupt  speech  "  gives  place  to  that  which 
edifieth.     Why  ?     "  That   it   may   minister   grace   unto 
the  hearers."     Bitterness,  wrath,  anger,  clamour,  malice, 
are  displaced  by  kindness,  tender-heartedness,  forgive- 
ness.    Why  ?     Because    "  God    for   Christ's   sake    hath 
forgiven  you."     So  in  our  common  conduct  we  are  to 
be    "  followers    of    God."      Why  ?      Because    we    are 
His    "  dear    children."      We     are     to    walk    in     love. 
Why  ?      Because     "  Christ     also    hath    loved    us    and 
given    Himself   for   us."      Our    common   duties    have 
'  Eph.  iv.  23 — V.  2. 


THE  WAY  OUT  AND  THE  WAY  IN  41 

thus  the  highest  sanctions,  and  the  new  life  as 
an  everyday  life  is  linked  through  the  Spirit  to  the 
divine  life  which  is  both  its  fountain  head  and  its 
destination. 

But,  seeing  that  our  sanctification  is  a  process,  the 
Christian  is  not  to  be  unduly  discouraged  by  his  im- 
perfections. He  should  remember  that  imperfections 
are  incidents  in  the  perfecting  of  the  saints.  For  the 
perfection  that  is  expected  of  men  is  not  the  per- 
fection of  angels  :  it  is  that  of  fallen  men  who  have 
been  set  up  again  and  are  learning  to  walk  in  the 
Spirit ;  stumbling  and  sometimes  falling  again,  but 
ever  striving  after  the  perfect  walk  with  God.  Absolute 
perfection  may  be  demanded  of  angels,  but  what  God 
expects  of  man  is  the  will  to  be  righteous,  the  constant 
direction  of  the  mind  to  the  highest  and  best  life. 
Sometimes  the  Christian,  through  the  infirmities  of 
his  nature,  may  find  himself  wrestling  with  the  ex- 
perience depicted  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans. 
He  passes  through  many  difficulties,  and  occasionally 
labours  hard  in  the  Slough  of  Despond ;  but  that  is 
part  of  his  discipline.  He  is  perfected  not  by  one 
blessed  experience,  but  by  sufferings.  He  is  not  a 
plaster  cast  turned  out  complete  in  a  moment,  but  a 
sculptured  marble  long  under  the  chisel.  What  he 
has  to  watch  is  that  the  process  be  not  arrested  ;  for 
a  man  is  not  lost  because  of  the  imperfections  which 
he  discovers  in  his  life,  but  because  of  those  which 
he  has  made  no  effort  to  remedy  or  remove.  At  the 
best  he  may  only  be  able  to  say  :  "  Not  as  though  I 
had  already  attained,  either  were  already  perfect :  but 
I  follow  after.  .  .  .  Forgetting  those  things  which 
are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 


42     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of 
the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^  Our  sorrow 
for  our  imperfection  is  the  prophecy  of  our  perfection. 
The  spiritual  life  is  a  progress  through  the  imperfect 
to  the  perfect.  Our  sanctification  is  not  annulled 
because  we  are  not  perfect,  but  only  when  we  are 
not  becoming  perfect. 

'  Phil.  iii.   12-14. 


CHRIST  THE  STANDARD  AND  THE  POWER  OF  THE 
NEW  LIFE 


43 


Men  are  guided  by  type,  not  by  argument." — Walter  Bagehot. 

"God  stooping  shows  sufficient  of  His  light 
For  us  i'  the  dark  to  rise  by.      And  I  rise." — BROWNING. 

"  Oh  !  let  me  then  in  Thee 

Be  bound,  in  Thee  be  free  ! 

A  law  of  death  in  me 

I  find,  a  law  in  Thee 
Of  life,  that  grows  to  fullest  liberty  ! 

"Bind  Thou  this  bondman  strong, 
That  rules,  encroaching  long 
Where  he  should  serve,  and  through  Thy  death  and  pain 
Set  Thou  the  spirit  free 
That,  born  to  liberty, 
Still  pines  !  a  King  that  wears  a  captive's  chain  ! " 

Dora  Greknwell's  Colloquia  Cruets. 


44 


CHAPTER    IV 

CHRIST  THE  STANDARD  AND  THE  POWER  OF  THE 
NEW  LIFE 

WE  must  not  think  that  Paul's  mind  moved  in  a 
region  of  abstractions.  The  truth  is  that  in 
the  very  centre  of  all  his  thoughts  there  stood  the 
divine  personality  of  the  living  Christ.  All  doctrines, 
all  virtues,  all  hopes,  all  enthusiasms  played  like  planets 
around  this  sun.  It  is  this  which  gives  the  peculiar 
charm  to  his  writings  and  constitutes  them  the  religious 
text-book,  not  of  an  age,  but  of  all  ages  ;  it  is  this  which 
makes  them  palpitate  with  light  and  warmth  and  life,  and 
renders  them  so  human  in  their  interests  and  sympathies. 

The  source  of  this  characteristic  is  not  far  to  seek. 
The  theology  of  Paul  is  not  a  system  evolved  by 
abstract  thought.  It  is  his  experience  theorised  :  his 
own  religious  life  reflected  upon  and  translated.  Just 
as  the  Incarnate  Lord  was  the  sum  and  spring  of  all 
religious  thought  and  moral  endeavour  to  the  original 
disciples,  so  also  to  Paul  the  Risen  Lord  was  at  once  the 
supreme  standard  and  the  efficient  power  of  the  new  life 
upon  which  he  entered  at  his  conversion.  The  incident 
on  the  road  to  Damascus  readjusted  his  whole  being,  and 
thinking,  and  doing.  It  was  his  spiritual  illumination, 
the  afterglow  of  which  remained  with  him  to  the  end. 

In   that   crisis   Christ   Himself  was   everything.     In 

45 


46    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  light  that  smote  him  to  the  earth  Paul  swiftly  read 
the  significance  of  his  past.  His  service  of  God  he 
discovered  to  be  the^  persecution  of  Christ.  His  punish- 
ment of  the  disciples  came  back  upon  him,  and  in 
wounding  others  he  was  only  wounding  himself  by 
kicking  against  the  pricks.  When  he  heard  the  voice 
saying  "  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest,"  ^  he  knew 
it  to  be  the  voice  of  his  Master  and  gave  it  an  instant 
response.  The  torrent  of  his  mad  passion  was  held  up 
and  frozen,  and  the  tenderness  of  Jesus  arrested  him 
with  its  gentle  violence  and  led  him  into  new  and 
undreamt  of  paths.  Then  Jesus  became  everything  to 
him  in  his  personal  life.  "  I  have  appeared  unto  thee 
for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness 
both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those 
things  in  the  which  I  will  appear  unto  thee."'  From 
Christ  he  received  his  commission  as  a  minister  and 
witness  of  Christ,  and  the  subject-matter  of  his  ministry 
and  witness-bearing  was  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in 
the  Christian  experience  of  his  life. 

To  Paul,  then,  Christ  is  the  inspiration  of  all  thought 
and  life.  He  is  the  goal  towards  which  the  believer  is 
moving,  and  the  force  by  which  he  is  moved — an  attrac- 
tive force,  which  wins  from  the  human  heart  the  love  and 
faith  and  high  endeavour  which  it  creates.  Jesus  thus  be- 
comes at  once  the  standard  and  the  power  of  the  new  life. 

The  value  of  a  standard  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 
Jesus  Himself  appreciated  its  worth.  He  did  not 
merely  say  to  those  around  Him  :  "  Be  virtuous,  be  true, 
be  pure."  He  knew  that  such  exhortation  was  but  a 
counsel  of  perfection  when  virtue,  truth,  and  purity  were 
not   realised   and   enshrined   in   a  person.     Hence  He 

'  Acts  xxvi.   15.  *  Ibid.   16. 


CHRIST   THE   STANDARD  47 

presented  Himself  to  the  world  as  the  Way,  the  Truth, 
the  Life.  "  Follow  Me,"  He  said,  offering  Himself  as 
the  standard  of  the  new  life  which  He  inaugurated. 
The  imitative  faculty  in  man  was  appealed  to  as  being 
a  stronger  force  in  the  formation  and  attainment  of 
moral  ideals  than  the  intellectual  faculty :  for  men 
draw  inspiration  and  hope  from  men  rather  than  from 
abstractions,  from  things  they  see  accomplished  by 
others  rather  than  from  things  they  are  exhorted  to 
accomplish  for  themselves. 

Paul  apprehended  this  great  truth,  and  for  that  reason 
his  teaching  is  alive  with  personal  interest.  "  The  mind 
of  Christ "  ^  is  what  he  desires  for  himself  and  others 
as  the  norm  of  truth  ;  for  richness  of  wisdom  is  given 
to  those  who  have  the  "  word  of  Christ "  dwelling  in 
them.*  The  Christian  life  itself  is  but  the  re-living  of 
Christ — Christ  expressing  Himself  in  the  Christian 
heart :  "  For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ."  ^  Imperfect  mean- 
while may  be  the  expression,  but  our  "  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,"  *  as  the  seed  is  hid  and  growing  in  the 
soil,  and  will  bear  the  ripe  fruit  in  its  season  :  "  When 
Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  Him  in  glory."  ^  To  the  Apostle,  Christ 
is  the  archetype,  "  the  firstborn  of  every  creature  "  * — 
the  ideal  and  end  of  our  being ;  and  hence  to  live  the 
Christian  life  is  to  learn  Christ,^  to  follow  Christ,^  to  press 
towards  Christ  ®  as  the  standa'rd  of  all  moral  endeavour. 

To  Paul's  mind  this  standard  is  not  gained  by  any 
sudden  leap.     At  first  we  are  but  "  babes  in  Christ,"  " 

•  I  Cor.  ii.  16:  cf.  Phil.  ii.  5.        »  Col.  iii.  16.         »  Phil.  i.  21. 

*  Col.  iii.  3.  *  Ibid.  4.  •  Ibid.  i.  15. 

»  Eph.  iv.  20.  8  I  Thess.  i.  6.      »  Phil.  iii.  14. 

w  \  Cor  iii   1. 


48    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

learning  to  spell  out  His  words  and  to  walk  in  His 
footsteps  ;  speaking  as  a  child,  feeling  as  a  child,  thinking 
as  a  child.  But  the  babe  is  in  Christ,  and  is  nurtured 
and  grows  in  the  knowledge  and  grace  of  Christ,  and 
becomes  a  man/  Then  he  passes  out  of  an  imperfect 
faith  and  over-confident  knowledge  into  "  the  unity  of 
the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ."  - 

It  is  this  thought  of  slow  development  towards 
maturity  which  reconciles  us  to  many  of  the  imperfections 
which  dishearten  us.  It  teaches  us  the  needed  lesson 
of  patience  with  ourselves  and  others,  and  checks  the 
conceit  of  immediate  perfection  which  blights  the  early 
blossom  of  many  a  promising  convert.  We  must  not 
look  for  "  the  full  corn  in  the  ear "  in  the  first  days 
of  the  Christian  life.  The  "  green  blade  "  has  first  to 
appear  ;  and  we  must  bear  with  the  raw  judgments  and 
harmless  pretensions,  and  the  harsh  though  honest 
censoriousness,  which  are  incidental  to  that  stage  of 
the  Christian's  growth.  The  mellow  time  of  the  ripe 
corn  comes  in  its  season  ;  and  our  thoughts  are  then 
tinged  with  the  more  sober  colours  of  autumn,  and  our 
judgments  are  touched  with  a  kindness  and  a  charity 
which  steal  over  us  with  slow  surprise. 

Yet  the  childhood  of  the  Christian  has  a  beauty  and 
sincerity  and  joy  of  its  own,  which  in  its  innocent 
exuberance  we  must  not  crush  or  judge  by  the  standard 
of  maturity.  The  babe  in  Christ  will  grow  into  the 
perfect  man.  The  last  glory  of  the  Christian  is  not 
the  same  as  the  first.  We  "  are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory," '  as  we  look  into  the 
»  I  Cor.  xiii.  li,  R.V.  *  Eph.  iv.  13,  *  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 


CHRIST   THE   STANDARD  49 

mirror  in  which  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  our  standard 
is  beheld  and  reflected.  Some  one  once  remarked  to 
Edward  Irving  that  it  seemed  wonderful  that  a  helpless 
babe  could  grow  into  a  man.  "  Wonderful,  rather,"  said 
Irving,  "  that  such  a  feeble,  heartless  thing  as  manhood 
should  be  the  fruit  of  the  rich,  glorious  bud  of  being 
in  childhood."  So,  too,  it  may  be  said  of  many  a 
Christian  life  which  begins  with  the  peace  of  God  and 
the  joy  of  salvation  and  the  enthusiasm  for  holiness. 
It  is  wonderful  that  our  poor,  half-finished  temple  of 
manhood  should  have  been  built  upon  such  a  glorious 
foundation  ;  ^  that  the  beginning  of  our  faith,  with  all 
its  promise,  should  end  in  such  mediocre  attainments. 

Paul,  however,  is  far  from  regarding  Christ  as  merely 
the  standard  of  the  Christian  life.  Jesus  is  not  a  passive 
ideal,  like  a  statue  on  a  pedestal.  He  is  an  ideal  who 
realises  Himself  in  the  life  of  the  believer,  at  whose  dis- 
posal He  puts  all  the  riches  of  His  grace.  He  is  thus 
the  Power  as  well  as  the  Standard  of  the  new  Hfe. 

To  Paul  Christ  is  good  for  everything  that  is  good.  He 
is  "  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power,  according 
to  the  spirit  of  holiness."  ^  The  Apostle  speaks  out 
of  his  experience  when  he  says  "  I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me."^  He  needs 
to  look  to  no  other  than  Christ  for  the  inspiration  of 
his  ministry  :  "  I  determined,"  he  says,  trusting  to  the 
all-sufficiency  of  Christ,  "  not  to  know  anything  among 
you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified."  ^ 

And  this  power  Paul  sees  everywhere  at  work,  for 
everywhere  he  sees  Christ  building  up  the  Church 
which  is  His  body.  "  The  power  of  God  unto  salvation  " 
works   through   those   who   serve   Him.     He  works  ir 

•  I  Cor.  iii.  u.     "  Rom,  i.  4.     »  Phil,  iv.  13.     *  1  Cor.  ii.  2,  R.V. 

4 


50    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

pastors  and  teachers  with  the  object  of  "  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints  "  and  "  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  ^ 
He  enriches  men  "  in  all  utterance  and  in  all  know- 
ledge." '  His  is  a  power  that  emanates  from  love,  and 
works  by  love,  and  creates  the  works  of  love :  "  The 
Lord  make  you  to  increase  and  abound  in  love  one 
toward  another,  and  toward  all  men."  ^  And  the  great 
end  for  which  the  power  is  exercised  is  holiness,*  the 
assimilation  of  our  nature  to  the  nature  of  Him  in 
whom  this  power  is  enshrined,  that  He  who  is  the 
Author  may  also  be  the  Finisher  of  our  faith.  He  con- 
firms us  to  the  end  that  we  "  may  be  blameless  in  the 
day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  ^  "  being  filled  with  the 
fruits  of  righteousness,  which  are  by  Jesus  Christ,  unto 
the  glory  and  praise  of  God."  ^ 

Sometimes,  indeed,  the  Apostle  feels  as  if  he  were 
being  dominated  and  hurried  along  by  this  power. 
It  seems  to  compel  his  will  and  absorb  his  personality. 
To  him  religion  and  life  are  one,  and  both  seem  to 
be  summed  up  in  the  one  word,  Christ.  It  is  with  a 
thrill  of  joy  that  he  abandons  himself  to  the  gracious 
tyranny  of  his  Master.  He  is  content  to  realise  his 
freedom  by  being  led  like  a  slave  at  the  chariot  of  Him 
who  conquered  him  :  "  Thanks  be  unto  God,  which 
always  leadeth  us  in  triumph  in  Christ,  and  maketh 
manifest  through  us  the  savour  of  His  knowledge  in 
every  place." ^  At  times  he  becomes  "a  fool  in 
glorying "  *  in  his  Lord.  For  him,  as  for  his  Master, 
the  thorn  enters  the  flesh,  and  in  his  own  Gethsemane 
he   "  besought   the   Lord  thrice,  that  it  might  depart " 

*  Eph.  iv.  12.  *  I  Cor.  i.  5.  '  i  Thess.  iii.  12. 

*  Jdid.  13.  »  I  Cor.  i.  8.  «  Phil.  i.  11. 

'  2  Cor.  ii.  14,  R.V.       *  Hid.  xii.  11. 


CHRIST   THE   STANDARD  51 

from  him  ;  ^  but  he  shared  his  Master's  experience  in 
being  called  to  the  service  of  suffering  as  a  token 
of  divine  favour.  He  learned  the  mystery  of  affliction 
as  an  ordinance  of  God  for  those  who  are  called  to 
high  service.  He  heard  the  divine  assurance :  "  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee :  for  My  power  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness."  At  that  moment  he  was  willing 
to  hazard  everything  for  Christ,  to  be  anything  so 
long  as  Christ  reigned  supreme  :  "  Most  gladly  there- 
fore," he  cries,  his  heart  leaping  up  to  meet  the  thorn, 
"  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  weaknesses,  that  the  strength 
of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me,"^  All  through  his  Epistles 
the  Apostle's  self-effacement  in  the  presence  and  under 
the  power  of  Christ  is  evident.  The  divine  personality 
of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  outgoing  grace  of  God  and 
the  incoming  grace  of  man,  gives  warmth  and  gracious- 
ness  and  intense  humanness  to  every  page. 

But  how  are  we  to  assume  Christ  as  the  power  of 
the  new  life?  Does  this  power  lay  down  new  rules 
for  us  and  prescribe  a  certain  ritual  to  be  observed  ? 
Paul  is  jealous  of  returning  to  the  beggarly  elements 
of  feasts  and  fasts  and  observances,  lest  Christ  should 
be  obscured  from  our  vision  and  His  power  hindered 
in  shaping  our  lives.  When  we  "  cast  off  the  works 
of  darkness,"  we  are  to  "  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
Ere  we  come  out  to  meet  the  dawn,  the  cast-off  gar- 
ments ot  the  old  man — "rioting  and  drunkenness," 
"  chambering  and  wantonness,"  "  strife  and  envying  " — 
are  to  be  exchanged  for  Christ,  who  is  the  Christian's 
"  armour  of  light."  ^ 

The  phrase,  "  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  is  very 
striking.     Christ  is  to  be   the   habit  of  the    Christian, 
*  2  Cor.  xii.  8.  *  Ibid.  9,  R.V.  '  Rom.  xiii.  12,  13. 


52     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

his  dress  for  daily  wear.  Habit  is  the  garment  of 
the  soul.  Not  that  life  is  to  be  regulated  by  a 
new  formulation  of  rules ;  it  is  to  be  inspired  by  a 
new  assumption  of  dispositions.  We  are  so  to  appro- 
priate Christ  as  to  share  His  sentiments  and  aims 
and  ideals  and  spirit.  The  sum  of  our  habits  forms  our 
character,  but  the  Christian's  habits  are  not  rules  of 
conduct,  but  dispositions  of  heart,  which  are  super- 
induced by  union  and  communion  with  Christ. 

Paul  laid  emphasis  upon  this  point,  being  afraid  of 
a  new  legalism  springing  up  in  the  Church  and  stifling 
the  spirit  by  the  letter.  The  only  rule  which  he  would 
lay  down  was  the  rule  of  the  "  new  creature."  ^  The 
Christian  is  not  a  mere  reformation  :  he  is  a  regeneration. 
He  is  not  an  old  man  rejuvenesced,  but  a  new  man. 
Ritual  is  nothing  to  him  :  "  Neither  circumcision  avail- 
eth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision."^  What  avails  is 
the  "new  creature,"  who  has  put  on  as  a  fresh  gar- 
ment the  Christlike  dispositions,  which  find  rule  and 
ritual  for  themselves  for  their  own  proper  expression. 
"  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
has  made  us  free,  and  be  not  entangled  again  with 
the  yoke  of  bondage."  ^ 

It  is  noteworthy  also  that  Paul  believes  that  these 
dispositions  of  the  new  man  may  be  exercised  in  our 
common  relations  with  others.  Christ  works  the  power 
of  His  salvation  into  us  whilst  we  work  it  out  in 
our  ordinary  surroundings.  When  the  Apostle  teaches 
the  duty  of  humility,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  attach 
it  to,  and  derive  it  from,  the  sublime  example  of  the 
humiliation  of  Jesus  Christ,  who,  though  "  being  in 
the  form  of  God,"  "  made  Himself  of  no  reputation, 
'  GaL  vi.  1$.  '  Ibid.  » Ibid.  v.  I. 


CHRIST  THE  STANDARD  53 

and  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant,"  and 
"humbled  Himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death." ^ 
The  very  exercise  of  humility  is  thus  sanctified  by 
the  power  it  derives  from  the  example  of  Christ. 
So  also,  the  duty  of  forgiveness  receives  divine  sanction 
from  the  same  example.  The  forgiving  disposition 
is  an  expression  of  the  indwelling  Christ :  "  Forbearing 
one  another,  and  forgiving  one  another,  if  any  man 
have  a  quarrel  against  any  :  even  as  Christ  forgave  you, 
so  also  do  ye."  ^  Even  our  common  domestic  obliga- 
tions and  duties  are  sweetened  by  being  brought  into 
relation  with  Jesus  Christ,  who  touches  us  at  every 
point  of  our  life.  The  submission  of  wives  to  their 
husbands  is  commended  "  as  unto  the  Lord." ' 
Husbands  are  to  love  their  wives  "  even  as  Christ  also 
loved  the  Church,"*  Children  are  exhorted  to  filial 
obedience,  because  it  is  "  well  pleasing  unto  the  Lord,"  * 
who  is  interested  in  the  discharge  of  the  humblest 
duties.  So  also,  servants  are  to  obey  their  masters 
"  not  with  eyeservice,  as  menpleasers,"  but  because 
in  serving  others  well  they  "  serve  the  Lord  Christ."  * 
Masters,  too,  are  to  be  just  and  equitable,  remembering 
that  they  also  are  servants,  for  they  have  a  "  Master  in 
heaven." ''  Thus  Christ  is  brought  into  personal  touch 
and  sympathy  with  us  in  our  common  life,  and  becomes 
the  greatest  formative  power  in  the  making  of  our 
character  and  the  shaping  of  our  destiny — "  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth."  * 

>  Phil.  ii.  6-8.        »  Col  iii.  13.        *  Eph.  v.  22. 
*  Ih'd.  25.  *  Col.  iii.  20.       •  Ibid.  24. 

''  Idid.  iv.  I.         •  Rom.  L  16. 


THE   OPTIMISTIC  OUTLOOK  OF   THE  NEW  LIFE 


55 


"The  sovereign  source  of  melancholy  is  reflection.  Need  and  struggle 
are  what  inspire  us  :  our  hour  of  triumph  is  what  brings  the  void.'' — 
Richard  Holt  Hutton. 

"We  make  for  ourselves,  in  truth,  our  own  spiritual  world,  our  own 
monsters,  chimeras,  angels — we  make  objective  what  ferments  in  us.  All 
is  marvellous  for  the  poet ;  all  is  divine  for  the  saint ;  all  is  great  for 
the  hero ;  all  wretched,  miserable,  ugly,  and  bad  for  the  base  and  sordid 
soul." — Amiel's  Jour^ial. 

**  She  [Faith]  sees  the  Best  that  glimmers  through  the  Worst, 
She  feels  the  Sun  is  hid  but  for  the  night, 
She  spies  the  summer  thro'  the  winter  bud, 
She  tastes  the  fruit  before  the  blossom  falls. 
She  hears  the  lark  within  the  songless  egg. 
She  finds  the  fountain  where  they  wailed  '  Mirage ' !  " 

Tennyson. 

"But  this  Pessimism,  which  reverts  to  the  thought  of  an  original 
energy  without  will,  that  produces  the  good  and  the  bad  alike  without 
design,  is  not  a  profound  view,  but  is  just  that  cheap  and  superficial  kind 
of  view,  by  which  all  enigmas  are  conveniently  disposed  of — by  simply 
sacrificing  all  that  is  most  essential  and  supreme  to  the  unprejudiced 
mind." — Lotze's  Philosophy  of  Religion. 


56 


CHAPTER    V 
THE   OPTIMISTIC  OUTLOOK   OF  THE  NEW  LIFE 

PAUL  was  not  blind  to  the  sin  and  sorrow  and 
misery  of  the  world.  He  looked  at  them  steadily 
with  open  eyes,  saw  and  said  the  worst,  and  yet 
maintained  his  sanity  and  hope.  There  was  much 
around  him  to  breed  a  sour  pessimism — the  long-stand- 
ing vices  of  the  heathen  world,  its  squalor,  its  slavery, 
its  tyranny,  its  suicide,  its  hopelessness,  its  ennui,  its 
godlessness ;  yet  the  Apostle  saw  more  than  the  seen : 
he  saw  the  Risen  Christ,  glorified,  empowered,  enthroned ; 
he  felt  the  stirrings  of  a  new  life  ;  believed  it  would 
spread  from  soul  to  soul ;  anticipated  the  victories  of 
the  future ;  read  the  prophecies  of  a  new  and  better 
era,  and  thought,  spake,  and  lived  an  optimist  till  the 
end. 

One  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  whole- 
someness  of  the  Apostle's  mind.  He  never  sits  down 
to  pule  and  whine  over  the  pollutions  and  miseries 
of  his  times.  He  declines  to  float  with  the  brackish 
tide,  or  to  sit  on  the  shore  wringing  his  hands  in 
the  futility  of  despair.  He  breasts  the  wave,  faces 
the  storm,  and,  gathering  strength  from  the  opposing 
elements,  "giories  in  afflictions."  His  letters  are  a 
useful  tonic  in  days  of  general  enervation  ;  for,  though 
he  looks  straight  down  into  the  depths  of  degradation 

57 


58     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

into  which  humanity  had  sunk,  instead  of  penning 
lacrymose  rhapsodies  over  the  ills  of  poor  human  nature 
in  the  manner  of  our  modern  pessimists,  he  writes  as 
a  man  who  has  risen  to  meet  the  dawn  and  bring  in 
the  day.  The  manifold  ills  and  woes  of  life,  which 
to  others  were  thorns,  to  him  were  spurs  ;  and  when 
blood  flowed  from  his  wounds  it  was  but  an  incident 
in  a  victorious  battle. 

Whilst  we  say  that  Paul  was  an  optimist,  we  do  not 
imply  that  his  sunshine  was  never  dimmed  by  clouds. 
He  had  his  dark  hours.  But  these  came  from  the  very 
excess  of  his  joy  and  hope,  the  impatience  of  his 
sanguine  temperament,  the  peculiarly  tender  relation- 
ship which  subsisted  between  his  disciples  and  himself. 
His  attitude  towards  his  disciples  was  more  like  that 
of  a  lover  or  nurse  or  mother  than  that  of  a  master. 
Sometimes  his  longing  to  see  their  faces  overpowered 
him,  and  he  prayed  "  night  and  day "  exceedingly 
that  his  affectionate  desire  might  be  gratified.^  He 
reminded  them  at  times  of  his  gentleness  among  them 
"even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her  children,"  and  of  his 
willingness  to  impart  not  only  the  Gospel,  "  but  also 
our  own  souls,  because  ye  were  dear  unto  us." '  We 
cannot  wonder  that  a  man  of  such  temper  should  have 
had  passing  fits  of  depression,  which  set  off  his  prevailing 
optimism,  as  shadows  the  sunlight. 

The  capacity  for  great  elation  is  a  capacity  for  great 
dejection.  When  he  found  the  Galatians  falling  back 
into  the  bondage  of  a  beggarly  legalism,  and  sacrificing 
the  Christian  freedom  into  which  he  had  brought  them, 
he  felt  as  if  his  work  were  coming  to  nothing,  and  for 
the  moment  the  springs  of  hope  seemed  to  be  stanched  : 
'  I  Thess.  iii.  7-10.  »  Ibid.  ii.  7,  8, 


THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK  59 

"  I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  I  have  bestowed  upon  you 
labour  in  vain."  ^  We  see  the  cloud  passing  over  him 
again  when  writing  his  letter  to  the  Philippians  from 
his  prison  in  Rome.  He  hears  of  the  preaching  of 
Christ  in  the  city  from  many  motives.  Some  are 
preaching  from  envy  and  strife ;  some  to  exasperate 
his  bonds  ;  some  out  of  love  and  goodwill.  His  hands 
are  tied,  his  sphere  of  influence  circumscribed,  providence 
seems  to  baulk  his  evangelistic  zeal.  At  one  moment 
in  the  elation  of  his  faith  he  rejoices  that  Christ  is 
preached,  no  matter  how  or  why,  and  believes  that 
Christ  shall  be  magnified  even  in  his  body ;  ^  at  another, 
in  the  depression  of  his  outlook,  he  thinks  his  work  is 
done  and  he  may  quit  the  scene  :  "  I  am  in  a  strait 
betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with 
Christ ;  which  is  far  better." '  He  is  suffering  from  the 
want  of  human  sympathy :  "  For  I  have  no  man  like- 
minded,  who  will  naturally  care  for  your  state.  For 
all  seek  their  own,  not  the  things  which  are  Jesus 
Christ's."^  It  is  the  loss  of  hope  which  overtakes  a 
man  when  deed  and  desire,  means  and  end,  will  not 
square ;  but  with  him  it  is  only  the  mood  of  the 
moment :  he  soon  recovers  his  habitual  pose  of  mind, 
and  emerges  into  the  sunshine  of  optimistic  faith. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  reason  of  Paul's  prevailing 
optimism,  it  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  was  not  merely  his 
natural  temperament.  Its  springs  were  in  grace.  The 
circumstances  of  his  life  seem  at  first  sight  to  provide  a 
hotbed  for  the  seeds  of  pessimism.  Men  disputed  and 
providence  thwarted  his  ministry.  Buffetings,  persecu- 
tions,  revilings,   shipwrecks,  imprisonment — everything 

1  Gal,  iv.   II.  »  Phil.  i.  15-20.  »  Ibid.  23. 

<  Ibid.  ii.  20,  21. 


6o    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

seemed  against  him.  What  of  his  own  way  he  got  had 
to  be  won,  and  almost  wrested,  from  his  unpromising 
environment.  But  it  is  precisely  in  such  circumstances 
that  the  optimistic  habit  of  mind  finds  its  nurture  and 
strength,  provided  a  man  has  a  dash  of  idealism  in 
his  nature,  and  works  upon  a  creed  which  reconciles 
him  to  his  life  and  presents  to  him  a  worthy  end  for 
which  to  strive. 

It  is  not  in  the  strenuous  days  of  the  battle  that 
men  are  pessimists.  Give  a  man  a  great  caus:  and  fire 
his  heart  with  enthusiasm  for  it,  and  he  lives  above 
the  visible  and  beyond  the  present.  The  end  glorifies 
everything.  It  is  when  men  sit  down  in  slippered  ease 
to  brood  upon  the  woes  of  their  fellows  ;  it  is  when 
men  are  sated  with  enjoyments  not  earned  by  toil  ;  it 
is  when  men  retire  only  to  be  spectators  of  the  stern 
tragedy  and  to  gaze  upon  the  stage  from  luxurious 
balconies — it  is  then  they  become  pessimists.  Warriors, 
philanthropists,  missionaries,  labouring  men,  wage- 
earners,  mothers,  are  seldom  pessimists.  They  have 
something  to  live  for,  and  they  live.  They  leave  the 
luxury  of  groaning  and  complaint  to  philosophers,  poets, 
and  rich  idlers,  who  make  a  little  sad  world  for  them- 
selves and  weep  over  it,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that 
happiness  and  misery  are  not  in  circumstances  but  in 
souls,  and  that  the  most  unpromising  material  of  life 
is  often  transformed  into  occasions  of  joy  and  health- 
ful discipline  by  those  who  have  to  shape  their  lives 
out  of  it. 

The  point  of  view  is  everything.  Change  the  man 
and  he  reads  his  environment  in  a  new  light.  Bring 
him  into  relation  to  God  and  Christ  and  eternity  ;  let 
him  see  a  far-reaching  purpose  and  plan  in  the  world, 


THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK  6i 

and  his  own  life  as  a  harmonious  tessera  in  the  design  of 
the  grand  mosaic,  and  he  becomes  reconciled  to  his  lot 
and  lives  an  optimist.  It  was  because  Paul  felt  his 
life  drawn  into  the  current  of  the  divine  plan  of  the 
world's  redemption  that  he  knew  he  counted  for  some- 
thing in  the  execution  of  God's  purpose,  and  he  lent 
himself  to  it  as  heroes  do,  who  think  and  live  above 
themselves  and  have  no  time  for  hopeless  weeping  over 
a  lost  world  because  of  the  joy  and  duty  of  saving  it. 

There  are  many  roads  that  lead  to  pessimism  and 
few  that  lead  out  of  it.  We  may  walk  into  that  dark 
cul  de  sac  by  the  pathway  of  certain  philosophies. 
Every  system  of  thought  which  ignores  or  eliminates 
the  person  of  God  from  the  world  brings  with  it  the 
possibility  of  pessimism,  for  the  reason  that  it  robs 
existence  of  the  rational  foundation  which  the  human 
intellect  demands.  The  movement  of  thought  from 
materialism  and  positivism  and  agnosticism  to  the 
goal  of  pessimism  is  almost  inevitable.  These  systems 
are  not  necessarily  of  themselves  pessimistic.  If  one 
could  be  content  with  the  view  of  God  and  the  world 
which  they  offer,  they  might  issue  in  a  contented 
optimism.  But  they  breed  pessimism  because  their 
conclusions  do  violence  to  our  instincts  and  ideals. 
Truth  thus  construed  to  the  mind  spells  misery  to  the 
heart,  and  under  the  guidance  of  reason  man  finds 
himself  an  anomaly  in  a  world  which  flouts  his  best 
hopes  and  desires.  It  is  not  the  belief  that  the  world 
is  bad  that  troubles  us  :  it  is  the  conviction  that  it 
might  be  better  ;  it  is  the  fact  that  we  are  condemned 
to  live  in  a  world  which  is  inconsistent  with  and  crushing 
to  our  nature.  It  is  not  that  God  is  ruled  out  of  the 
world  and  human  life :  it  is  that  we  look  for  Him  all 


62     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

around,  and  instinctively  listen  for  His  voice,  and  yet 
are  imperiously  told  by  the  intellect  that  He  is  neither 
to  be  seen  nor  heard.  The  wail  of  pessimism  arises 
when  human  nature  lies  bleeding  under  the  heel  of 
thought  and  revolts  against  the  misery  in  which  it  is 
amazed  to  find  itself 

Sometimes  we  reach  the  same  goal  by  another  path : 
that,  namely,  of  our  moral  aspiration.  La  maladie  de 
i'ideal  is  a  disease  which  eats  into  the  finest  souls.  It 
arises  from  the  disparity  between  our  highest  moral 
aims  and  our  meagre  attainments,  the  gulf  between  the 
real  and  the  ideal  and  our  sense  of  inability  to  bridge  it. 
"  The  real,"  said  Amiel,  "  disgusts  me,  and  I  cannot  find 
the  ideal,"  "  The  ideal  poisons  for  me  all  imperfect 
possessions."  It  is  a  pessimism  which  does  not  so  much 
doubt  God  as  man  ;  which  shrinks  from  the  engage- 
ments and  relations  of  life  lest  the  ideal  should  be 
degraded  by  faulty  attainment ;  which  fights  shy  of  the 
goal  because  it  cannot  be  reached  by  a  single  leap 
or  bound,  if  ever  at  all.  It  mourns  over  an  imperfect 
world  instead  of  working  slowly  and  patiently  to  make 
it  better.  There  is  a  deep  gulf  fixed  between  the  life 
of  actual  experience  and  the  ideal  life  which  is  ever 
inviting  us  ;  but  it  is  not  the  function  of  faith  to  paralyse 
us.  Its  function  is  to  dare  the  impossible,  to  believe 
that  He  who  calls  us  will  enable  us,  and  to  venture 
though  we  fail,  and  yet  to  venture  again  and  again, 
in  the  confidence  that  every  fresh  effort  will  be  seconded 
by  a  fresh  access  of  power,  and  that  the  pursuit  of  the 
ideal  may  be  as  greatly  blessed  to  us  as  its  attainment.^ 

•  "  In  contrast  with  this  Pessimism,  the  more  difficult  problem 
is  the  firm  confidence  that,  in  spite  of  all  that  is  incomprehensible 
to  us,  the  striving  after  a  supieme  end  is  at  all  events  extant  in 


THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK  63 

There  is  another  path,  however,  which  is  more 
frequently  trodden  than  either  of  these  which  we  have 
mentioned.  Its  point  of  departure  is  not  the  denial 
of  God,  or  the  assertion  of  an  ideal  which  paralyses 
effort,  but  the  collation  and  rehearsal  of  the  ills  and 
woes  and  disabilities  to  which  our  humanity  is  subject. 
It  starts  with  the  real,  the  actual,  the  present.  The 
existing  scheme  of  things,  it  is  argued,  has  no  benevo- 
lence at  heart.  It  is  cruel,  oppressive,  relentless. 
Nature  is  "  red  in  tooth  and  claw."  The  earthquake,  the 
avalanche,  the  storm,  the  frost,  are  so  many  enemies 
of  man.  Nature  yields  him  little  of  her  bounty  without 
sweat  and  toil.  Nor  is  providence  more  kind.  The 
accident  of  birth  determines  much.  It  sets  limits  to 
the  possibilities  of  life.  The  original  endowment  of 
a  poor  constitution  may  make  life  one  protracted  misery 
of  suffering.  Then  there  are  the  social  cancers  with 
which  humanity  is  ever  afflicted — grinding  poverty, 
soaking  toil,  the  oppression  of  capitalism,  the  inadequate 
housing  of  the  poor,  the  sordid  environment  of  child- 
hood in  our  cities.  All  these  realities  of  the  present 
hour  may  be  dwelt  upon  by  the  mind  till  they  affect 
it  like  a  nightmare — a  nightmare  of  waking  thoughts 
which  cuts  our  nerve  and  renders  us  helpless,  in  face 
of  a  problem  which  demands  solution.  The  contempla- 
tion of  this  seamy  side  of  life  by  those  who  will  not 
"  put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God  "  and  fight,  is  the 

the  world.  For  this  confidence  takes  upon  itself  the  great  and 
ever  unavoidable  task  of  always  making  renewed  attempts  to  fill 
the  gap  which  lies  between  this  content  of  faith  and  our  actual 
experiences.  If  we  call  every  attempt  of  this  sort  in  thought  or 
action  '  religion,'  then  '  religion '  is  never  exactly  a  demonstrable 
theorem,  but  the  conviction  of  its  truth  is  a  deed  that  is  to  be 
accredited  to  character." — Lotze's  Philosophy  of  Religion,  128. 


64    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

prolific  mother  of  pessimism.  Every  effort  seems  so 
hopeless  as  generation  after  generation  is  born  into  this 
worst  of  possible  worlds,  which  seems  to  mock  our 
benevolence. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these  hard  facts  of 
life  are  more  productive  of  the  pessimistic  spirit  than 
are  speculative  theories  or  frustrated  ideals.  But  there 
are  some  things  which  are  frequently  forgotten  by  those 
who  cherish  this  unfortunate  spirit.  These  facts  are, 
after  all,  selected  facts,  over  against  which  we  may 
set  a  preponderating  selection  from  the  sunnier  side 
of  life  to  be  found  in  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men.^ 
Life  is  not  all  tragedy.  The  grim  tragedians  have  some 
byplay  of  relieving  comedy  behind  the  scenes.  The 
joy  of  life  is  not  the  product  of  the  environment. 
Place  man  where  you  may — in  palace  or  in  hovel,  in 
luxury  or  penury,  in  leisure  or  labour — and  misery  may 
still  be  part  of  his  lot.  The  West-end  has  its  sorrows 
like  the  East-end.  If  happiness  is  to  be  attained  at  all, 
it  is  not  by  pursuing  it.  We  stumble  across  it  by 
accident ;  it  comes  as  a  corollary  of  holiness,  and  is 
sometimes  extracted  from  circumstances  which  to  others 
are  the  most  cruel  miseries.  Happiness  is  an  end 
which  may  be  reached  when  a  higher  end  is  pursued. 

And  this  leads  us  to  note  that  ills  become  blessings 
and  hindrances  furtherances  according  to  the  spirit  in 

'  "Browning's  optimism  was  not  founded  on  opinions  which 
were  the  work  of  Browning,  but  on  life  which  was  the  work  of 
God." — Chesterton's  Brow7iing,  179.  "When,  in  doleful  dumps, 
breaking  the  awful  stillness  of  our  wooden  sidewalk  on  a  Sunday, 
or,  perchance,  a  watcher  in  the  house  of  mourning,  I  hear  a  cockerel 
crow  far  or  near,  I  think  to  myself,  '  There  is  one  of  us  well,  at 
any  rate,' — and  with  a  sudden  gush  return  to  my  senses." — 
Thoreau's  Essay  on  Walking. 


THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK  65 

which  we  meet  them.  Joys  and  miseries  have  not 
constant  values :  they  are  transformable ;  they  change 
as  we  change.  In  the  vilest  surroundings  you  may 
discover  the  happiest  saints,  and  in  the  most  para- 
disaical you  may  find  the  most  miserable  sinners.  The 
spirit  within  makes  the  world  without.  The  good  man 
transmutes  the  most  intractable  material  into  virtue 
and  joy,  as  the  oyster  produces  the  pearl  from  the 
occasion  of  its  pain. 

Do  we  not  forget  that  much  of  the  world's  suffering 
and  trouble  is  preventable,  and  is  due  to  the  indifference 
and  selfishness  and  sin  of  man  ?  It  is  not  part  of  the 
divine  plan,  and  seems  to  be  tolerated  by  a  merciful 
God  as  a  prophylactic  against  worse  evil.  Can  we 
imagine  what  the  world  might  become  if  sin  were  not 
restrained  by  misery  ?  But  the  pessimist  usually  ignores 
the  fact  of  sin,  and  brings  his  railing  accusation  against 
God  for  not  doing  what  man  is  left,  in  a  good  providence, 
to  do  for  himself.  He  wishes  the  symptoms  to  be 
relieved  without  curing  the  disease,  forgetful  of  the 
fact  that  God  has  provided  in  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Gospel  a  remedy  which,  whilst  it  removes  many  of  the 
ills  of  life  by  removing  their  cause,  lifts  a  man  above 
others  and  enables  him  to  bear  all  with  courage  and 
equanimity,  if  net  with  joy,  as  an  intelligible  discipline 
of  which  he  approves. 

When  we  examine  more  particularly  the  optimism 
of  Paul,  we  see  that  it  is  not  reached  by  ignoring  what 
is  difficult  and  disagreeable  in  the  world.  He  finds 
a  point  of  contact  in  each  of  these  phases  of  pessimism. 
He,  too,  had  learned  how  hard  it  is  to  see  and  know 
a  personal  God  in  the  world  ;  and,  though  he  tried  to 
believe  in  a  holy  God,  and  felt  the  inner  demand  for 

5 


f6    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

holiness,  he  seemed  to  get  farther  away  from  God  the 
nearer  he  tried  to  reach  Him.  The  struggle  between 
his  conscience,  in  which  was  written  the  divine  com- 
mand, and  the  power  of  sin,  which  dragged  him  down 
into  disloyalty  and  disobedience,  drove  him  into  despair, 
and  might  have  ended  in  pessimism,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  revelation  of  God  as  a  God  of  grace  in  Jesus 
Christ.  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am  ;  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  I  thank  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  ^  The  point  of  contact  with 
pessimism  became  the  point  of  departure  into  optimism. 

So,  again,  he  felt  the  sublimity  of  the  ideal  life,  and 
his  insufficiency  for  its  attainment.  But  the  ideal 
which  he  discovered  in  Jesus  Christ  was  a  self-realising 
ideal.  Christ  did  not  stand  apart  waiting  to  be  ap- 
proached. Christ  took  up  his  life  with  all  its  faults^ 
and  hid  it  in  His  own,  and  imparted  His  own  strength 
to  his  weakness.  Paul  was  strong  when  weak ;  and, 
though  he  could  do  nothing  of  himself  to  get  nearer 
his  ideal,  he  could  do  all  things  through  Him.  In 
this  way  the  nialadie  de  r ideal  was  prevented  or  cured. 
His  ideal  was  not  an  abstraction  of  virtues  which 
invited  and  rebuked,  but  a  Person  who  loved  him  and 
attracted  him  and  transformed  him  into  His  own  image. 

In  like  manner  also  Paul  contemplated  the  sad  facts 
of  existence,  and  was  as  familiar  with  them  as  any 
pessimist.  He  listened  to  the  groaning  and  travailing 
of  pained  nature,^  which  shared  the  curse  of  man's  sin. 
He  gazed  upon  the  miseries  of  fallen  humanity,  and 
stood  face  to  face  with  death.  But  he  read  a  new 
meaning  in  them  when  he  was  able  to  fit  them  into 
an  intelligible  scheme  of  God's  moral  government* 
*  Rom.  vii.  24,  25.  '  Rom.  viii.  22. 


THE   OPTIMISTIC   OUTLOOK  (>7 

Nature  herself  was  to  share  in  the  benefits  of  man's 
redemption,  as  she  shared  in  his  curse.^  The  ills  and 
woes  of  life  were  removable  or  remediable,  or  at  least 
tolerable,  by  the  offer  of  salvation  which  God  made 
in  His  Son  ;  and  even  the  sting  of  death  was  extracted 
by  the  expiation  for  sin  which  was  made  by  the 
Crucified.  The  riddle  of  providence  found  a  solution 
in  redemption,  and  the  faith  which  apprehended  Jesus 
Christ  as  "before  all  things,"  ^  as  "head  over  all  things,"^ 
as  reconciling  all  things,  ^  and  as  having  a  pre-eminence 
in  all  things,^  was  able  to  look  abroad  upon  life  with 
the  equanimity  of  optimism,  and  say,  "  All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,"^ 
Thus  the  optimism  of  the  Apostle  was  based  upon 
revelation,  in  full  view  of  the  facts  by  which  men  had 
been  driven  by  various  paths  into  the  abyss  of  pessimism. 
To  Paul  the  only  way  out  was  by  Jesus  Christ. 

'  Rom.  viii.  21.  '  Col.  i.  17.  *  Eph.  i.  22. 

*  Col.  i.  20.  ■''  Ihid.  18.  «  Rom.  viii.  28. 


IN   FRAISE    OF   LOVE 


*  Faith  makes  the  Christian  lord  of  everything  ;  love  makes  him  the 
servant  of  every  man." — Luther. 

"  If  you  want  a  person's  faults,  go  to  those  who  love  him.  They  will 
not  tell  you,  but  they  know.  And  herein  lies  the  magnanimous  courage  of 
love,  that  it  endures  this  knowledge  without  change." — R.  Louis  Steven- 
son's Men  and  Books. 

"The  night  has  a  thousand  eyes, 

And  the  day  but  one  ; 
Yet  the  light  of  a  whole  world  dies 

With  the  setting  sun. 
The  mind  has  a  thousand  eyes, 

And  the  heart  but  one ; 
Yet  the  light  of  a  whole  life  dies 

When  love  is  done." 

BOURDILLON. 

"  Love  giveth  in  paying  debts,  yet,  after  giving,  always  remaineth 
herself  in  debt.  Time  never  will  be  that  she  is  not  paying  ;  nor  doth 
she  ever  lose,  but  rather  multiplieth  herself  in  giving." — Augustine. 

"  Forcey  as  death  is  likened  love, 
Through  whom  all  bitter  sweet  is, 
No  thing  is  hard,  as  Writ  can  prove. 
To  him  in  love  that  let  is." 

Robert  Henrvsoun,  of  Fordelx. 


70 


CHAPTER    VI 
IN  PRAISE    OF   LOVE 

IT  has  often  been  said  that  John  is  the  apostle  of 
love,  but  too  seldom  do  we  realise  the  rivalry 
of  Paul  in  this  transcendent  quality.  We  think  of 
Paul  as  the  keen  logician,  the  passionate  debater,  the 
subtle  metaphysician,  and  forget  the  tears  and  sacrifices 
and  labours  which  he  offered  on  the  altar  of  the  "  God 
of  love."  We  forget  also  that  the  greatest  hymn  of 
love  in  all  literature  came  from  his  pen. 

When  we  ask  why  Paul  had  such  love  for  men — love 
which  imposed  upon  him  a  life  of  suffering  and  toil — 
there  is  but  one  answer :  the  love  of  Christ.  His  love 
for  all  men  is  the  overflow  of  Christ's  love  for  him.  The 
love  of  Christ  overwhelms  him  with  awe,  and  evokes 
his  adoration  :  it  "  passeth  knowledge  "  that  it  was  He 
who  was  none  other  than  "  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 
me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me,"  ^  the  chief  of  sinners. 
It  is  a  sweet  tyranny,  which  "  always  leadeth  us  in 
triumph  in  Christ,"  ^  as  captured  slaves  of  love  bound 
to  love's  chariot.  It  is  a  victorious  power,  which  makes 
the  captive  a  conqueror,  and  more  than  a  conqueror, 
carrying  off  his  trophies  from  the  battlefield  of  tribula- 
tion, distress,  persecution,  famine,  nakedness  :  "  In  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him 
»  Gal,  ii.  20.  »  2  Cor  ii.  14,  R.V. 

7« 


72     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

that  loved  us,  "^  It  is  the  dynamic  of  omnipotence 
which  possesses  and  uses  us  :  "The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us."  ^  It  is  the  inexorable  and  defiant  passion 
of  Christ  for  those  whom  He  has  loved  even  unto 
death  :  "  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life, 
nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."^ 
It  is  only  when  we  apprehend  the  Apostle's  conception 
of  the  love  of  Christ  that  we  can  appreciate  his  life 
as  a  life  of  love,  for  his  love  for  men  is  to  be  measured 
by  Christ's  love  for  him.  It  signified  something  more 
than  a  passive  sentiment  of  benevolence,  something 
more  than  the  negation  of  hatred  and  enmity :  it 
signified  all  that  Christ's  love  signified  for  him  and 
the  world.  "  Be  ye  therefore  followers  of  God,  as  dear 
children  ;  and  walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath  loved 
us,  and  hath  given  Himself  for  us  an  offering  and  a 
sacrifice  to  God."* 

When  Paul  discovered  himself  as  the  beloved  of  Jesus 
Christ  the  whole  world  became  his  creditors.  Every 
man  had  a  new  claim  upon  him  :  "  I  am  debtor  both  to 
Greeks  and  to  Barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the 
foolish."*  The  love  of  Christ  was  in  him  not  a  pool, 
but  a  well.  It  was  a  well  of  water  which  Jesus  had 
sunk  in  his  heart  that  every  wayfaring  and  thirsty 
soul  might  drink  from  it.**  It  was  his  and  yet  not 
his  :  his  not  to  keep,  but  to  give  ;  for  love,  like  water, 

'  Rom.  viii.  37.  *  2  Cor.  v.  14.  '  Rom.  viii.  38,  39. 

*  Eph.  V.  I,  2.  *  Rom.  i.  14,  R.V. 

•  John  iv,  14:  "The  water  .  .  .  shall  be  in  him  a  well  ot 
water." 


IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE  73 

must  flow  forth  in  order  to  remain  wholesome  for  our- 
selves and  others.  Love  is  always  in  debt ;  and  it  goes 
the  deeper  into  debt  the  more  it  draws  from  the  treasures 
of  love  in  Christ.  But  the  more  it  pays  out,  the  more 
it  is  able  to  pay ;  for  we  get  love  in  order  to  love. 
The  one  debt  which  we  can  never  discharge  is  the 
debt  of  love  ;  for  so  long  as  we  live  either  here  or 
beyond  we  must  love  if  we  are  to  remain  in  the  love 
of  Christ. 

This  leads  us  to  note  Paul's  conception  of  the  relation 
of  love  and  law.  In  a  noteworthy  passage  in  Romans^ 
the  Apostle  maintains  that  love  sums  up  the  whole 
duty  of  man  to  man.  He  cites  first  some  of  our  posi- 
tive duties — our  social  obligations,  which  as  Christians 
we  should  faithfully  discharge  :  "  Render  therefore  to 
all  their  dues  :  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due ;  custom 
to  whom  custom  ;  fear  to  whom  fear ;  honour  to  whom 
honour."  This  is  part  of  our  debt.  Then  he  cites  our 
negative  duties — some  moral  obligations  :  "  Thou  shalt 
not  commit  adultery.  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  Thou  shalt  not 
steal.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness,  Thou  shalt  not 
covet,"  and  "  any  other  commandment "  there  may  be. 
Now  love  goes  behind  all  these  things  as  a  duty  which 
comprehends  and  transcends  them  all.  The  Christian 
may  discharge  all  his  dues  to  man  except  that  which 
he  is  ever  discharging — his  due  of  love.  "  Owe  no 
man  anything,  but  to  love  one  another."  Love 
enables  him  to  discharge  all  his  social  duties  spon- 
taneously, without  any  thought  of  mere  obedience  to 
law,  and  prevents  in  the  very  conception  those  unsocial 
acts  referred  to  in  the  second  Table.  Love  quenches 
our  evil  dispositions  and  becomes  a  universal  law 
^  Rom.  xiii.  7-10, 


74    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

within,  which  fulfils  and  supersedes  all  particular  enact- 
ments without.  When  we  pay  the  dues  of  love  all 
other  moral  dues  are  included  in  the  payment.  Love 
is  therefore  the  whole  duty  of  man  to  man  :  "  For  he 
that  loveth  another  hath  fulfilled  the  law."  Hence  for 
the  Christian  to  fall  back  from  love  to  law  is  to  fall 
away  from  grace  ^ — to  forsake  the  fountain  and  to 
drink  of  the  stream,  to  renounce  universal  principles 
and  to  live  from  hand,  to  mouth  upon  rules,  to  bind 
oneself  to  obedience  whilst  forfeiting  the  power  to 
obey. 

But  love  is  not  only  the  inspiration  of  the  Christian's 
conduct  towards  his  fellows  ;  it  is  also  the  key  of  the 
knowledge  of  God.  And  this  does  not  signify  to 
Paul's  mind  merely  that  our  love  of  God  is  the  secret 
of  our  knowledge  of  God,  but  that  our  love  for  one 
another  quickens  the  instinct  of  love  by  which  the 
things  of  God  are  apprehended.  It  was  to  the  Colossians, 
who  had  fallen  into  the  error  of  magnifying  the  powers 
of  speculation,  that  Paul  addressed  the  words  which 
taught  them  to  seek  by  the  intuitions  and  affections 
the  knowledge  to  which  speculation  could  never  attain. 
He  tells  them  that  he  strives  for  them  in  his  prayers 
"  that  their  hearts  may  be  comforted,  they  being  knit 
together  in  love,  and  unto  all  riches  of  the  full  assurance 
of  understanding,  that  they  may  know  the  mystery  of 
God,  even  Christ,  in  whom  are  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge  hidden."^  The  hearts  that  are 
"  comforted "  and  "  knit  together  in  love  "  are  in  the 
moral  condition  which  qualifies  them  for  opening  the 
door  of  the  treasure  house  and  enjoying  the  full 
certainty  of  Christian  insight.  For  the  Philippians 
'  Gal.  V.  4.  »  Col.  ii.  2,  3,  R.V. 


IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE  75 

also  he  prayed  for  the  same  blessing  :  "  and  this  I  pray, 
that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in 
knowledge  and  all  discernment."^ 

Love  is  also  the  interpreter  of  love.  Faith  brings 
Christ  as  a  guest  into  the  soul,  but  faith  "  worketh 
by  love "  in  exploring  the  infinite  dimensions  of  the 
love  of  the  divine  heart,  which  it  "  passeth  knowledge  " 
to  discover  or  understand.  Love  outstrips  knowledge 
in  knowing  love's  contents.  Love  brings  eyes  and 
light  even  to  faith.  Hence  Paul's  prayer  for  the 
Ephesians  :  "  That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts 
through  faith  ;  to  the  end  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  strong  to  apprehend  with 
all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height 
and  depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness 
of  God."  ^  Love  thus  ventures  into  regions  in  which 
knowledge  fails,  and  acquires  by  the  insight  of  its 
sympathies  such  a  knowledge  of  the  heart  of  Christ 
as  is  granted  only  to  the  saints,  to  whom  Christ  reveals 
His  deepest  secrets. 

Again,  love  is  "  the  bond  of  perfectness."  It  is  that 
quality  which  suffuses  all  other  qualities  of  the  soul  and 
imparts  to  them  its  own  tenderness  and  beauty,  thus 
producing  homogeneity  and  harmony.  In  the  building 
up  of  a  Christian  character  love  is  all-powerful. 
"  Knowledge  pufifeth  up,  but  love  buildeth  up."  ^  Love 
hews  and  carves  the  stones,  sets  them  in  their  places, 
and  binds  them  together  into  a  unity  which  expresses 
the  idea  of  the  divine  archetype  of  love  in  Christ. 
Mercy,    kindness,    humility,    meekness,     longsuffering, 

»  Phil.  i.  9,  R.V.  »  Eph.  iii.  17,  19,  R.V. 

'  1  Cor.  viii.  i,  R.V.  margin. 


ye    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

forbearance — these  may  be  only  a  heap  of  beautiful 
stones  till  love  as  the  "  bond  of  perfectness " '  comes 
upon  the  scene  and  rears  them  into  the  temple  of 
a  holy  character. 

Love  is  the  harmoniser  of  differences  in  churches. 
There  may  be  "  diversities  of  gifts,"  "  differences  of 
administrations,"  "diversities  of  operations,"  yet  "the 
same  spirit "  and  "  one  body,"  all  co-operating 
harmoniously  in  love.-  Love  gives  unity  also  to  the 
family :  it  is  the  keystone  of  the  home,  the  supreme 
quality  which  every  earthly  father,  as  the  head  of  the 
house,^  derives  from  the  God  of  love,  "  the  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family 
in  heaven  and  earth  is  named."* 

It  is  said  that  Amphion  built  Thebes  by  the  music 
of  his  lute.  The  stones  danced  into  their  places,  and 
palaces  and  houses  arose  to  its  persuasive  strains. 
So  with  churches  and  homes  and  the  characters  of 
Christian  men  :  love  builds,  hate  destroys  ;  love  is  "  the 
bond  of  perfectness,"  hate  is  the  force  of  disintegration. 
When  love  continues,  churches,  homes,  and  men  stand 
firm  and  fair  as  temples  of  God  ;  when  love  is  gone, 
the  stones  fall  out  just  as  they  fell  in. 

When  we  turn  to  Paul's  hymn  of  love  *  we  find  in 
it  the  core  of  his  teaching  regarding  the  spiritual 
life,  the  quintessence  of  his  experience,  the  passion 
and  poetry  of  his  own  life.  It  is  a  song  of  love's 
victory  and  enthronement,  written  with  his  heart's 
blood.  Were  his  Epistles  a  ring  of  gold  set  with  many 
diamonds,  this  chapter  would  be  the  centre  stone  of 
purest     water — a     diamond     of     many     facets,     each 

*  Col.  iii.  14.  *  I  Cor.  xii.  4-7.  '  Eph.  v.  25  ff. 

*  Eph.  iii.  14,  15.  *  I  Cor.  xiii.  R.V. 


IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE  'jj 

scintillating  and  reflecting  the  ineffable  light  of  the 
love  of  Christ. 

Why  does  Paul  dilate  so  lengthily  in  praise  of  love  ? 
Was  it  not  because  he  was  rehabilitating  a  word  that 
had  been  much  abused  in  the  literature  and  common 
parlance  of  the  world  ?  He  was  attempting  to  pour 
into  it  fresh  contents — attar  of  roses  instead  of  withered 
leaves  which  had  lost  their  perfume.  Christ  had  created 
a  new  virtue,  and  Paul  had  to  recreate  an  old  word 
to  express  it.  Hence  the  laborious  but  sublime  defini- 
tion of  this  chapter,  which  has  enshrined  the  word  "  love  " 
with  new  significance  in  the  language  of  the  world. 
No  trim,  scientific,  dictionary  definition  could  have 
sufficed  to  set  forth  all  the  wealth  of  Christian  love. 
It  had  to  be  contrasted  and  compared,  differentiated 
and  combined  in  many  ways  to  tell  what  it  is  and  what 
it  is  not.  And  this  could  only  be  done  by  the  deeper 
ventures  of  poetry ;  for  love,  like  the  light  of  the  sun, 
or  the  song  of  birds,  is  too  great  and  too  subtle  to  be 
confined  in  our  little  boxes  or  phials  of  definition. 
After  we  have  done  all  to  secure  it  in  language,  there 
is  more  left  unsaid  than  is  said.  We  may  tell  what  it 
denotes,  but  not  what  it  connotes.  Love  :  what  is  it  ? 
God  is  love  ;  Christ  is  love.  We  can  never  fathom  it ; 
we  have  no  vessel  into  which  we  can  pour  the  ocean. 

This  chapter  in  praise  of  charity  presents  to  us  love 
in  its  many  phases.  It  is  a  bed  of  roses  of  love,  of  all 
colours  and  perfumes — the  sweetest-smelling  patch  in 
all  the  garden  of  divine  graces  planted  of  the  Lord : 
some  crimson  with  the  blood  of  the  cross,  some  white 
with  snow  of  purity,  some  pale  with  suffering,  some 
lifting  their  heads  with  incense  of  joy,  some  drooping 
with  tear-drops  of  humility  ,    all  scenting  the  air  with 


78    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  savour  of  the  quintessential  love  of  Christ.  At 
which  can  we  marvel  most — that  Christ  can  rear  such 
heavenly  blooms,  or  that  the  poor  barren  soil  of  the 
human  heart  can  be  so  fertilised  as  to  bring  them  forth 
in  such  perfection  ? 

This  hymn  of  love  has  four  stanzas,  in  each  of 
which  the  apostolic  poet  v/orks  out  a  separate  idea. 
The  first  may  be  called  the  Enthronement  of  Love  ; 
the  second,  the  Crowning  of  Love  ;  the  third,  the  Reign 
of  Love ;  and  the  fourth  the  Immortality  of  Love. 

I.  The  Enthronement  of  Love.  The  Apostle  begins 
by  setting  love  high  above  all  the  high  attainments  of 
the  Christian  life — above  tongues,  and  prophecy,  and 
faith,  and  munificence,  and  even  martyrdom.  With 
love  they  may  be  much,  without  love  they  are  nothing. 
Love  must  be  above  them  on  the  throne,  and  beneath 
them  at  the  foundation,  if  they  are  to  count  for  any- 
thing before  God  ;  for  the  eye  of  divine  love  searches 
for  the  quality  of  love  in  each. 

I  may  be  an  expert  in  all  the  languages  of  men  and 
angels  ;  but  if  I  have  not  learned  the  language  of  love, 
I  cannot  speak  to  God.  I  may  as  well  beat  the  gong 
or  clang  the  cymbal  as  speak  with  tongues,  if  I  have 
not  charity  in  the  heart.  I  only  make  a  noise  which 
men  may  hear  ;  God  wants  the  tongue  to  utter  heart's 
music  tuned  to  love.  Without  love,  then,  the  ability  to 
use  all  languages  is  only  an  idle  accomplishment. 

I  may  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  my  mind  may 
penetrate  all  mysteries  and  comprehend  all  knowledge  ; 
but  if  I  have  not  love,  I  am  nothing.  My  eloquence 
and  fervour  may  accomplish  much  in  spreading  the 
Gospel,  and  may  win  me  repute  and  admiration — I 
may  speak  of  God  to  men,  but  I  cannot  speak  to  God 


IN   PRAISE   OF  LOVE  79 

of  myself:  I  am  nothing.  For  preaching  is  only  an 
art  if  eloquence  and  fervour  have  not  the  wooing  note 
of  love, 

I  may  have  a  faith  that  overleaps  all  obstacles — 
removes  mountains  from  my  own  feet  and  the  feet  of 
others  ;  but  if  I  have  not  love,  I  am  nothing,  I  may 
be  only  the  Priest  or  the  Levite,  full  of  faith  and 
devotion  to  God,  but  with  no  time  or  heart  to  help  my 
wounded  fellow-traveller  on  the  roadside ;  so  engrossed 
in  my  study  of  theology  that  humanity  makes  no  appeal 
to  me.  But  if  I  serve  God  in  faith  and  neglect  men  in 
love,  I  am  nothing  to  God  or  man.  Faith  without  love 
is  a  mere  religions  attainment. 

I  may  "  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor  "  ;  I 
may  be  a  prince  in  what  the  world  now  calls  charity, 
a  master  in  munificence  ;  I  may  make  the  great  sacrifice 
which  the  rich  young  ruler  withheld  ;  I  may  follow  the 
Master  Himself  and  exchange  my  riches  for  the  poverty 
of  those  whom  I  would  enrich  ;  but  if  I  have  not  love 
therewith,  others  may  profit  much,  but  I  nothing, 
God  wants  not  mine,  but  me  ;  and  even  me  He  will  not 
take  till  I  have  given  both  me  and  mine  to  others. 
Munificence  without  love  may  purchase  honour  among 
men,  but  nothing  of  God, 

.  I  may  "  give  my  body  to  be  burned  "  for  some  great 
cause  of  truth  or  righteousness  ;  but  if  my  heart  is  not 
consumed  by  the  slow  fires  of  love,  I  die  the  martyr's 
death  without  the  martyr's  spirit,  and  without  the 
martyr's  reward.  "  It  profiteth  me  nothing,"  Martyr- 
dom without  love  is  only  a  bid  for  the  earthly 
immortality  oi  fame. 

It  is  thus  Paul  enthrones  love  above  all  things  which 
are  high   in   esteem   in   the  religious  world — tongues, 


8o    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

prophecy,  faith,  munificence,  martyrdom.  Men  have 
praised  these,  this  he  praises.  Love  sits  queen  over 
them  all  ;  and  so  long  as  they  are  her  handmaids  they 
are  exalted  in  honour  and  from  her  derive  their  glory 
and  reward  ;  but  so  soon  as  they  pass  out  of  her 
government  they  are  degraded,  and  the  aureole  vanishes 
from  their  brow, 

II.  TJie  Crowning  of  Love.  In  the  first  stanza  Paul 
lifts  love  above  things  that  are  worthy,  and  declares 
that  without  her  they  are  unworthy.  He  now  separates 
love  from  things  which  are  unworthy,  and  tells  what 
love  is  by  telling  what  love  is  not.  He  has  distinguished 
the  pure  gold  from  the  gold  :  he  now  removes  the 
dross.  We  see  her  now  surrounded,  as  queen  of  graces, 
by  eight  attendant  graces,  which  are  suggested  by  their 
opposites,  with  which  love  has  not  lot  or  part.  Her 
crown  of  glory  is  that  she  is  the  soul  of  each. 

"  Love  suffereth  long  and  is  kind  " — a  beautiful  pre- 
amble to  the  coronation.  Without  love  we  may  suffer 
long.  We  may  suffer  in  bitterness  of  spirit.  Without 
love  we  may  suffer  long  and  be  cross,  but  without  love 
we  cannot  suffer  long  and  be  kind.  Love  is  patient  in 
enduring  ill,  impatient  to  confer  good.  Love  is  the 
soul  of  syvipatJiy. 

Then  the  eight  follow.  "  Love  envieth  not."  When 
she  finds  herself  poor,  and  unfortunate  and  despised, 
she  has  no  green  eye  for  the  wealth  and  good  fortune 
and  honour  of  others.  She  is  content  to  be  love.  She 
is  the  soul  of  magnanimity. 

"  Love  vaunteth  not  "  herself  when  it  is  her  turn  to 
be  rich  and  fortunate  and  honoured.  She  never  beggars 
her  neighbour  by  boasting.     She  is  the  soul  of  humility. 

Love  "  is  not  puffed  up."     She  is  never  inflated  with 


IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE  8i 

the  wind  of  vanity,  ostentatiously  puffing  herself  in 
showy  advertisement  and  vulgar  display.  She  is  the 
soul  of  meekness. 

Love  "  doth  not  behave  herself  unseemly."  She  does 
not  make  others  feel  small  by  her  greatness,  mean  by 
her  mightiness,  rude  by  her  politeness,  vile  by  her 
goodness.     She  is  the  soul  of  good  breeding. 

Love  "  seeketh  not  her  own."  She  curtails  her 
liberties,  and  denies  her  likings  for  the  sake  of  others ; 
gives  up  her  pleasure  to  give  pleasure  to  those  around 
her  ;  forgets  her  rights  in  her  duties.  She  is  the  soul  of 
unselfishness. 

Love  "is  not  easily  provoked."  She  does  not  re- 
taliate and  discuss.  She  wins  or  waits.  She  will  not 
fight  temper  with  temper.  She  will  not  descend  from 
the  calm  dignity  of  her  throne  to  wrangle  with  the  mob. 
She  is  the  soul  of  placidity. 

Love  "  thinketh  no  evil."  If  another  does  her  an 
injury  she  does  not  note  it  down  in  her  memory  to 
brood  over  it.  She  pities  the  doer  of  it,  who  has 
injured  himself  rather  than  her.  Without  love  we 
may  speak  no  evil  of  the  neighbour  who  has  wounded 
us,  but  it  is  only  love  that  can  so  transfigure  us 
that  we  think  none.     Love  is  the  soul  of  forgiveness. 

Love  "  rejoiceth  not  in  unrighteousness,  but  rejoiceth 
in  the  truth."  She  never  sits  down  in  the  seat  of 
the  scorner  to  whet  her  pride  of  purity  by  discuss- 
ing the  sins  of  others.  She  has  no  ear  for  the  tattler 
and  the  talebearer,  no  unwholesome  joy  in  gloating  over 
the  backslidings  of  her  friends.  She  and  her  sister 
truth  keep  company,  and  rejoice  together  over  all  who 
are  loving  and  true,  and  mourn  together  over  the  base 
and  false.     She  is  the  soul  of  ingenuousness. 

6 


82     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

Thus  love  puts  a  chaplet  upon  the  head  of  each  of 
these  eight  graces  who  wait  upon  her,  and  they,  re- 
cognising her  as  their  queen,  put  upon  her  head  the 
crown. 

III.  The  Reign  of  Love.  The  Apostle  now  praises 
the  benignant  rule  of  love.  One  verse  with  four  brief 
clauses  suffices  to  sum  up  her  universal  sway.  She  reigns 
over  four  "  all  things  " — four  continents — stretching 
out  her  sceptre  towards  the  four  points  of  the  compass. 
"  Love  covereth  all  things  :  believeth  all  things  :  hopeth 
all  things  :  endureth  all  things."  Such  brevity  is  only 
possible  to  a  master  who  has  long  practised  the  art  of 
charity.  It  is  only  he  who  can  compress  in  so  few 
words  the  experience  of  as  many  years.  But,  as  Ruskin 
has  said,  "  Three  penstrokes  of  Raffaelle  are  a  greater 
and  better  picture  than  the  most  finished  work  that 
ever  Carlo  Dolci  polished  into  inanity."^  Here  love 
is  presented  to  us  in  her  four  queenly  attitudes  towards 
humanity. 

Love  "  beareth  all  things " — literally,  covereth,  roofs 
in  :  shelters  from  danger,  from  storm,  from  suspicion, 
from  obloquy.  As  a  hostess  she  brings  the  outcast 
under  her  roof-tree  ;  as  a  hen  she  gathers  her  chickens 
under  her  wings.  Love  takes  the  coat  ofif  her  own  back 
and  covers  the  shivering  nakedness  of  the  suspected 
one,  and  thus  "  covers  a  multitude  of  sins."  "  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  ye  took  Me  in :  naked,  and  ye  clothed 
Me."  ^     Love  is  the  shelterer. 

Love   "  believeth   all    things."     She   is   slow   to   lose 

faith   in    men.     She   sees   the   "  soul   of  good  "  in  the 

bad,   the   man   in   the   sinner  ;  thinks  the  best  of  the 

worst,  is  blind  to  our  failings,  suns  our  withering  graces 

*  Modem  Painters.  *  Matt.  xxv.  35,  36. 


IN   PRAISE   OF   LOVE  83 

in  the  smile  of  her  approval,  and  by  her  surprising  faith 
in  us  revives  our  expiring  faith  in  ourselves.  Love  is 
the  encourager. 

Love  "hopeth  all  things."  Even  when  her  faith  in 
us  is  dashed  to  the  ground  by  the  knowledge  of  our 
guilt,  her  work  is  not  done.  She  flees  from  the  fortress 
of  faith  to  take  her  stand  and  fight  for  us  in  that  of 
hope.  She  still  sees  our  possibilities.  She  stands 
tiptoe,  ready  to  spring  forward  with  winged  feet  to  meet 
the  dawn  of  the  better  life  in  our  soul.  Love  is  ever  the 
optimist. 

Love  "  endureth  all  things."  When  the  worst  comes 
to  the  worst ;  when  her  hospitality  is  violated  and  her 
faith  spurned,  and  her  hope  clouded  over  by  our  ob- 
durateness,  she  never  gives  up  the  quest  for  us  :  she  sits 
down  in  the  darkness  and  plants  herself  under  our 
burden,^  making  our  guilt  her  own,  and  waits  for  the 
breaking  of  a  better  day.     Love  is  the  cross-bearer. 

Whom  is  Paul  describing  ?  Where  is  this  wondrous 
archetypal  Love?  Is  it  not  the  Man  of  Sorrows, 
acquainted  with  grief,  who  had  appeared  to  Isaiah  and 
set  the  prophet's  lips  on  fire  with  burning  words  ?  For 
love  and  sorrow,  love  and  suffering,  love  and  death, 
are  inseparable  in  God  and  in  man. 

IV.  The  Immortality  of  Love.  The  transcendent 
superiority  of  love  is  shown  by  its  immortality.  It  is 
a  pure  and  insatiable  passion  which  feeds  upon  an 
infinite  and  inexhaustible  object.  So  long  as  God  is 
love,  God  will  be  loved.  He  needs  us  :  we  Him,  Here, 
then,  we  may  cultivate  the  faculty  of  love  in  our  inter- 
course with  men,  for  its  exercise  will  never  cease  when 
we  stand  in  the  presence  of  God. 

*  " najna  xmoftfvfi.' 


84     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Prophecies  shall  fail,  when  the  Gospel  needs  no  longer 
to  be  proclaimed  to  a  fallen  world  ;  tongues  shall  cease, 
when  the  saints  speak  and  sing  in  the  new  language 
of  glory  ;  knowledge  shall  be  done  away,  when  we 
know  even  also  as  we  are  known  ;  but  there  remain, 
after  these  things  and  the  need  of  them  have  passed 
away,  these  three :  faith,  hope,  and  love ;  but  even 
among  these  three  love  is  still  enthroned  as  queen. 
For  the  apprehension  and  acquisition  of  the  love  of 
God  is  the  eternal  joy  and  glory  and  labour  of  the 
samts,  in  which  faith  still  worketh  by  love  and  for 
love,  and  in  which  hope  still  reaches  forth  eagerly  for 
fresh  discoveries  of  love  to  satisfy  the  undying  love  of 
the  soul.  *'  But  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these 
three  :  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love." 


ON    CHRISTIAN    PRAYER 


85 


"  Prayer  thrives  not,  rather  it  turns  into  hollow,  soulless,  mechanical 
words,  or  even  into  vain,  sinful  craving,  unless  an  earnest  resistance 
to  evil  inclinations  goes  hand  in  hand  with  it." — Monrad's  IVorld  of 
Prayer. 

"  Prayer  is  the  voice  of  one  who  was  created  tree,  although  he 
was  born  in  chains ;  it  is  at  once  self-assertion  and  self-surrender  ;  it 
claims  a  will  even  in  surrendering  it,  when  it  says.  Not  my  will,  but 
Thine,  be  done."— Dora  Greenwell's  Essays. 

"  Mr.  Dickson  went  away  and  prayed  about  ten  words ;  but  I  confess 
that  every  word  that  he  uttered  would  have  filled  a  firlot  ! " — Wodrow's 
Analecta. 

"  You  seem  to  be  a  pretty  lucky  young  man  ;  keep  your  eyes  open 
to  your  mercies.  That  part  of  piety  is  eternal ;  and  the  man  that  forgets 
to  be  thankful  has  fallen  asleep  in  life."— R.  L.  Stevenson  :  From  a 
letter  to  Haddon,  the  artist. 


86 


CHAPTER    VII 

ON    CHRISTIAN  PRAYER 

IN  the  culture  of  the  spiritual  life  a  foremost  place 
must  be  given  to  prayer.  Prayer  is  the  faculty 
by  which  faith  satisfies  its  hunger  and  thirst.  Prayer 
leads  faith  into  the  innermost,  and  sets  her  down  at 
the  fountain  and  the  feast  of  grace.  Faith  without 
prayer  is  a  bird  without  wings,  a  ship  without  a  sail, 
a  tree  without  a  root.  Prayer  is  the  characteristic  note 
of  the  Christian — that  by  which  he  knows  God  and 
is  known  of  God.  "  Behold,  he  prayeth,"  ^  marks  the 
dividing  line  between  our  life  in  the  world  and  our 
life  in  Christ. 

Prayer  is  both  natural  and  necessary  to  man.  It 
is  the  index  of  our  fall,  the  prophecy  of  our  redemption, 
the  instinct  and  the  impulse  by  which  we  try  to  bridge 
the  gulf  between  earth  and  heaven,  between  man  and 
God.  Man  prays  because  he  is  a  slave  of  sin  and 
yet  an  heir  of  grace.  Above  him,  the  unfallen  angels 
praise — their  aspirations  are  fulfilled  ;  beneath  him,  the 
world  of  created  beings  is  dumb — it  is  satisfied  with 
"the  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof":  but  man  is  an 
exile  from  heaven,  sinning  yet  aspiring,  a  worldling 
yet  dissatisfied  with  the  world  ;  journeying  through  the 

'  Acts  ix.  II. 
87 


88     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

world  with  aching  feet,  his  heart  already  across  the 
Jordan  in  the  land  of  promise. 

Prayer  is  characteristic  of  all  religions,  but  Christian 
prayer  has  its  note  of  distinction  :  the  note  of  thanks- 
giving and  joy  based  upon  redemption.  We  do  not 
approach  God  as  slaves  who  dread  the  exactions  of 
a  taskmaster,  but  as  children  who  know  the  love  of 
a  father.  We  are  sons  and  heirs,  whose  inheritance  has 
been  secured  for  us  :  and,  although  we  cannot  mean- 
while enter  into  possession,  we  "  rejoice  in  hope," 
"  making  request  with  joy "  for  those  ever-increasing 
instalments  of  grace  which  are  granted  to  the  prayer 
which  can  appropriate  and  use  them.  As  members 
of  "  the  household  of  faith,"  our  prayers  are  not  for 
the  appeasing  of  wrath  or  for  the  non-infliction  of 
punishment,  but  for  the  fuller  expression  of  love,  the 
larger  enjoyment  of  blessing.  The  prayers  of  Christians 
are  the  confidences  of  children. 

But  this  joyful  confidence  of  children  which  charac- 
terises our  prayers  to  the  Father  is  a  privilege  which  has 
been  purchased  for  us  at  a  great  price.  We  can  never 
dissociate  prayer  from  sacrifice.  Prayer  has  not  an 
immediate  access  to  the  throne.  There  is  a  barrier 
to  prayer  which  must  be  put  out  of  the  way.  The 
sacrifices  of  the  heathen  were  blind  ventures  of  the 
darkened  mind  to  remove  the  great  obstacle  of  sin 
and  guilt  which  ever  impedes  the  feet  that  would 
approach  God  in  prayer.  The  heathen  presentiment 
finds  ratification  in  Jewish  ritual,  in  which  the  associa- 
tion of  sacrifice  and  prayer  comes  into  clearer  light. 
Man  has  always  felt  it  to  be  true  that  "  without  shed- 
ding of  blood  is  no  remission "  ^ ;  and  the  sacrifices 
*  Heb.  ix.  22 


ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER  89 

of  the  temple  were  but  prefigurations  of  the  Great 
Sacrifice,  by  which  we  have  "  boldness  to  enter  into 
the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living 
way,  which  He  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the 
veil,  that  is  to  say,  His  flesh."  ^  It  is  by  His  death 
that  Jesus  secures  to  Jew  and  Gentile  alike  the  privilege 
for  which  they  had  been  blindly  groping — an  "  access 
by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father."^  Since  He  died  we 
are  "  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners "  wandering 
outside  the  walls  :  the  gates  of  prayer  are  thrown  open 
by  our  great  High  Priest,  our  prayers  take  us  into 
the  divine  presence,  and  we  are  admitted  as  "  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."  ' 

It  is  the  thought  of  Christ's  complete  atonement 
for  sin  which  creates  within  us  a  joyful  confidence 
that  our  requests  are  granted  for  the  sake  of  Him 
who  is  at  once  our  High  Priest  and  our  Sacrifice, 
Strong  prevailing  prayer  is  inseparable  from  strong 
faith  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  The  fact  that  God  "  spared 
not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,"  *  is 
our  grand  argument  and  encouragement  for  boldness 
in  prayer.  With  our  eye  fixed  on  Calvary,  what  is 
there  that  we  may  not  pray  for,  if  it  be  in  the  line 
of  the  purpose  of  the  cross  ?  and  is  not  every  good 
for  ourselves  and  others  swept  into  that  divine  current  ? 
The  riches  of  that  one  gift  beggar  all  our  poor  language 
and  poorer  expectation  :  it  is  as  unspeakable  in  value 
as  the  stars  and  the  shining  of  the  sun.  It  is  im- 
measurable in  merit :  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  "  °  is  the  "  new  song  "  which  only  saints  and  "  the 
voice   of  many  angels "  can  sing.     And   it   would   be 

>  Heb.  X.  19,  20.  »  Eph.  ii.  18.  '  Ibid.  19. 

*  Rom.  viii.  32.  '  Rev.  v.  12. 


go    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

a  great  surprise  if,  after  that  unspeakable  gift,  we 
should  not  be  able  to  say :  "  How  shall  He  not  with 
Him  also  freely  give  us  all  things "  ?  *  Our  faith  in 
prayer  thus  depends  upon  our  faith  in  the  cross,  and 
when  we  go  into  God's  presence  we  travel  along  that 
way  which  has  been  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb. 

But,  since  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  there  no 
sacrifice  needed  of  them  that  pray  ?  Is  nothing  asked 
of  us  to  lay  upon  the  altar  ?  We  too  have  a  sacrifice, 
a  bloodless  sacrifice,  which  we  must  offer,  without 
which  prayer  is  not  prayer.  It  is  our  will — our  will, 
which,  as  moral  beings,  we  are  free  to  give  or  withhold 
from  Him  who  has  given  it.  He  supplies  us  with  the 
material  for  our  sacrifice,  and  asks  nothing  which  He 
has  not  bestowed.  We  do  not  pray  when  we  ask 
only  what  we  wish.  Prayer  is  but  idle  words  so  long 
as  we  expect  to  coerce  the  divine  will  into  the  granting 
of  our  requests.  Prayer  begins  and  ends  with  the 
surrender  of  our  will.  "  Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be 
done  " ;  "  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven  " — this  is  the  undertone  of  all  our  supplications. 
Thus  when  we  come  to  God  by  "the  new  and  living 
way  "  we  must  bring  to  the  altar  the  only  thing  which 
God  has  given  us  as  our  own — our  will — and  we  must 
repeat  the  words  of  our  great  High  Priest,  "  Lo,  I  come 
to  do  Thy  will,  O  God."  2 

It  is  the  apprehension  of  this  truth  which  prevents 
disappointment  in  prayer.  When  we  make  approach 
to  God  to  get  our  own  will,  and  not  to  do  His  will, 
our  prayers  come  back  to  us  as  the  echoes  of  our 
own  voice.  Is  it  not  the  forgetting  of  this  truth  which 
*  Rom.  viii.  32.  '  Heb.  x.  9. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER  91 

murders  prayer  on  the  very  threshold  of  our  lips  ?  Are 
we  not  trying  to  speak  the  language  of  prayer  without 
having  learned  prayer's  alphabet  when  we  expect  to 
get  anything  from  God  which  is  not  in  the  line  of 
His  will  ?  Indeed,  we  cannot  believingly  ask  until 
we  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  will  of  God. 
And  the  surrender  He  asks  is  not  the  annihilation  of 
our  will,  as  if  it  were  antagonistic  to  His  own  :  it  is 
still  our  will,  but,  when  consecrated  upon  the  altar, 
all  antagonism  has  passed  away,  and  it  realises  its 
freedom  in  willing  harmoniously  with  the  will  which 
created  it,  and  of  which  it  should  be  the  expression. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  if  this  is  the  end  of  all  prayer, 
does  prayer  alter  anything  ?  Is  the  will  of  man  the 
only  thing  that  is  altered?  Are  not  the  laws  of  God 
immutable  ?  Will  He  alter  the  laws  of  nature  at  the 
request  of  man?  Amidst  all  the  mystery  which  such 
questions  create,  there  are  some  things  which  are 
sufficiently  clear  and  unshaken.  We  may  press  our 
knowledge  of  God  and  man  and  nature  too  far  for 
what  it  is  worth.  Is  not  the  whole  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion as  displayed  in  history  an  interference  with  the 
established  order  of  things  ?  The  Incarnation,  the 
miracles,  the  Cross,  the  Resurrection,  conversion,  re- 
generation— how  can  we  fit  them  into  the  known  laws 
of  nature  ?  Did  God  create  and  set  agoing  the  universe 
and  then  sit  down  to  do  no  more  ?  Is  His  will,  which 
is  the  source  of  all  law,  bound  by  its  own  laws  ?  Can 
God  will  nothing  but  what  He  has  willed  ?  So  far  as 
God  has  revealed  His  mind,  the  whole  universe  of 
material  things  is  not  so  valuable  as  man,  for  whose 
salvation  He  gave  His  Son  to  die.  If  we  are  the 
children  of  God,  why  should  it  be  incredible  that  our 


92     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Father  should  do  at  our  request  things  that  otherwise 
would  not  have  been  done?  He  seeks  to  educate 
our  wills  to  bring  them  into  harmony  with  His  own, 
and  it  is  surely  reasonable  to  think  that  He  is  free 
to  encourage  us,  and  to  win  us  to  Himself  by  doing 
many  things  at  our  request  which  are  not  contrary 
to  His  purpose. 

Besides,  when  we  speak  about  fixed  laws  by  which 
God  governs  the  world,  why  should  we  not  include 
prayer  among  their  number  ?  Surely  prayer  is  one 
of  the  laws  of  God,  and  human  experience  has  piled 
up  its  record  of  answers  which  have  made  it  impossible 
to  doubt  its  efficacy.  The  justification  of  experience 
is  of  more  value  than  the  justification  of  reason  ;  when 
the  former  is  forthcoming,  the  latter  may  be  dispensed 
with.  If  we  believe  that  "the  Father  knows  how  to 
give  good  gifts  to  them  that  ask  Him,"  we  surely 
believe  that  asking  is  the  condition  of  bestowing,  and 
that  the  human  will  calls  the  divine  will  into  activity 
consistently  with  itself. 

But,  after  all,  our  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
depends  upon  what  room  we  make  for  the  supernatural 
in  our  view  of  the  world.  When  our  thoughts  scarcely 
rise  above  visible  things,  and,  through  indifference, 
ignorance,  or  philosophy,  take  no  cognisance  of  such 
facts  as  Christ's  person.  His  atonement.  His  resurrection, 
His  work  in  history  and  experience,  prayer  is  only 
speaking  into  a  vacuum.  But  these  facts  remain,  and 
have  to  be  fitted  somehow  into  an  intelligent  theory 
of  the  universe.  To  the  Christian  the  supernatural 
is  ever  impinging  upon  the  natural,  and  God  is  at 
work  harmoniously  in  both.  The  God  who  interferes 
in  his  life  for  his  redemption  may  interfere  in  a  thousand 


ON   CHRISTIAN    PRAYER  93 

ways  to  prevent  the  frustration  of  redemption.  "  A 
Christian's  daily  common  Hfe  is  full  of  unseen,  un- 
recognised miracles,  and  among  the  greatest  of  all 
miracles  worked  by  prayer  is  faith  in  prayer  itself."  ^ 

When  we  leave  the  abstract  questions  which  gather 
around  the  subject  of  prayer,  and  deal  with  it  as  one 
of  the  principal  means  for  the  culture  of  the  spiritual 
life,  it  is  best  to  consider  the  subject  as  presented  to 
us  in  one  who  was  distinguished  as  a  man  of  prayer. 
Such  a  one  was  Paul,  in  whose  life  and  teaching  prayer 
played  an  outstanding  part.  We  may  therefore  note 
the  nature  and  characteristics  of  prayer  as  they  present 
themselves  in  the  great  Apostle. 

Prayer  is  a  labour,  a  strenuous  spiritual  exercise,  a 
wrestling.  It  is  the  athleticism  of  the  soul.  It  never 
was  to  Paul  a  short  and  easy  way  of  obtaining  his 
desires.  It  was  to  him,  as  to  our  Saviour,  an  agony — 
an  agony  not  so  much  of  pain  as  of  spiritual  exertion. 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  same  word  as  was  used  of  Jesus 
in  Gethsemane^  is  taken  up  by  Paul  in  speaking  of 
his  prayers.  It  is  the  exertion  of  the  runner  or 
wrestler  contending  with  mighty  combatants,  unseen  but 
real,  in  the  secret  arena  of  the  soul.  "  Whereunto  I 
labour,  striving  [agonising,  contending  with  adversaries] 
according  to  His  working,  which  worketh  in  me 
mightily." "  "  I  would  that  ye  knew  what  great  conflict 
[agony,  inner  struggle]  I  have  for  you."  *  Whilst  it 
is  true  that  there  are  times — halcyon  days  of  the 
soul — in  which  we  commune  with  God  as  children, 
pouring  out  our  confidences  familiarly  into  the  Father's 
ear,  there  are  also  dark  days  of  moral  distress  in  which 

'  Dora  Greenwell's  Essays,  139.  ^  Luke  xxii.  44. 

'  Col.  i.  29.  *  Ibid.  ii.  i  :  cf.  iv.  12;  Rom.  xv.  30. 


94     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

we  have  to  pray  ourselves  laboriously  into  prayer — 
days  in  which  the  Father's  will  is  clear,  but  we  cannot 
bring  ourselves  into  line  with  it  till  we  have  beaten 
down  many  an  opposing  wish  and  interest  and  natural 
inclination  which  dispute  our  allegiance.  For  our 
wrestling  is  not  with  God :  our  wrestling  is  with 
ourselves  to  disencumber  our  will  and  set  it  free  to 
identify  itself  with  the  will  of  the  Father. 

Prayer  is  often  a  laborious  preparation  for  prayer. 
Prayer  teaches  to  pray.  The  exercise  of  prayer  is 
God's  way  of  training  His  spiritual  athletes  to  bring 
them  into  condition  for  prevailing  prayer,  which  implies 
spiritual  fitness  for  appropriating  and  using  prayer's 
responses.  At  first  we  begin  by  "  asking,"  as  if  all 
were  to  be  got  by  asking.  We  find,  however,  that  our 
appetite  for  blessing  increases,  and  with  it  our  urgency. 
We  then  exert  ourselves  more,  and  "  seek."  But  for 
the  best  gifts  the  exertion  is  still  more  violent  :  we 
"  knock "  and  the  door  of  the  whole  house  is  opened 
to  us.*  It  is  the  divine  discipline  in  which  prayer 
borrows  strength  from  the  obstacles  which  it  overcomes. 
It  is  the  method  of  Jesus  Himself,  who  seemed  to 
introduce  impediments  to  prayer  to  excite  prayer's 
urgency  and  strenuousness — as  in  the  case  of  the 
Canaanitish  woman,  who,  having  prayed  down  all 
discouragements,  at  last  prevailed.  "  Be  it  unto  thee 
even  as  thou  wilt."^  A  magnificent  response!  She 
got  far  beyond  her  request.  She  was  not  bidden  eat 
the  crumbs  under  the  table  like  a  dog  :  the  pantry  door 
was  thrown  open  and  she  got  the  right,  as  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  to  all  it  contained. 

The  experience  and  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle  alike 
'  Luke  xi.  5-13.  *  Matt.  xv.  28. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER  95 

argue  labour  and  urgency.  Prayer  was  to  him  a  great 
work.  He  did  not  make  prayer  a  substitute  for  labour. 
It  was  the  inspiration  and  strength  of  his  ministry. 
Nor  did  he  indulge  in  the  modern  sophism  which 
makes  labour  a  substitute  for  prayer.  "To  labour  is 
to  pray "  was  no  part  of  his  gospel.  He  held  the 
balance  even.  For,  whilst  prayer  without  labour  argues 
a  lazy  faith,  labour  without  prayer  degenerates  into 
laborious  idleness  or  irritating  fussiness.  His  work 
of  prayer  is  the  very  heart  of  all  his  work  of  labour. 
It  is  the  storing  up  of  divine  energy  for  work.  It  is 
the  recovery  of  the  consciousness  of  God,  which  is  so 
often  lost  in  our  contact  and  converse  with  the  world. 
"  Night  and  day  praying  exceedingly  that  we  might 
see  your  face,  and  might  perfect  that  which  is  lacking 
in  your  faith."  ^  "  For  this  cause  we  do  not  cease  to 
pray  for  you."  ^  "  Pray  without  ceasing."  ^  "  Patient 
in  tribulation;  continuing  instant  in  prayer."*  "Con- 
tinue in  prayer,  and  watch  in  the  same."  ^ 

In  this  work  of  prayer  we  are  not  left  to  ourselves: 
we  have  the  co-operation  of  the  Spirit.  Praj'er  without 
the  Spirit  is  blind  prayer,  a  speaking  into  the  dark 
without  the  vision  of  the  Father's  face.  It  is  only 
when  we  can  say  we  "have  received  the  spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father,"^  that  we 
have  our  introduction  into  the  audience-chamber  of  the 
divine  presence.  In  Christian  prayer  there  are  two 
voices — the  voice  of  the  Spirit  and  the  voice  of  man. 
We  pray,  and  the  Spirit  prays  in  us.  We  have  an 
intercessor  when  we  intercede,  an  interpreter  of  our 
prayers  who  sets  us  and  them  in  order.     "  The  spirit 

•  I  Thess.  iii,  lo.  *  Col.  i.  9,  *  I  Thess.  v.  17. 

*  Rom.  xii.  12.  '  Col,  iv,  2.  ^  Rom.  viii,  15. 


96    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

of  the  man,  which  is  in  him,"  "  knoweth  the  things  of 
a  man  "  ;  but  "  the  things  of  God  none  knoweth,  save 
the  Spirit  of  God," '  and  it  is  this  gracious  co-operation 
of  Spirit  with  spirit  which  brings  our  inexpressible 
needs  into  touch  with  divine  satisfactions.  Left  to 
ourselves  "  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought," 
but  the  Spirit  "  helpeth  our  infirmity,"  and  "  maketh 
intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be 
uttered."*  As  Jesus  taught  His  disciples  to  pray,  so 
His  Alter  Ego  teaches  us  ;  and  Christian  prayer  has 
this  characteristic  :  it  is  prayer  "  in  the  Spirit."  ^ 

It  is  this  which  purifies  our  prayers  of  sordidness 
and  selfishness,  and  prevents  us  from  praying  for  those 
things  that  would  harm  ourselves  or  others.  It  is 
this  also  which  often  mysteriously  guides  our  prayers 
in  those  directions  in  which  our  answers  are  to  come, 
and  makes  us  stumble  unexpectedly  upon  open  doors 
which  lead  into  the  presence  of  the  Father  of  all 
mercies.  It  is  this  which  emboldens  us  to  pray  when 
we  are  yearning  for  blessings  which  we  cannot  define, 
and  for  blessings  which  we  cannot  prognosticate.  We 
know  that  our  great  Interpreter  sets  in  order  our 
wordless  yearnings  and  verbal  ventures  before  the 
throne. 

Again,  in  the  example  and  teaching  of  Paul,  prayer 
often  takes  the  form  of  intercession.  The  frequency 
of  intercession  arrests  the  mind  of  the  studious  reader 
of  the  Epistles.  Paul  believed  he  was  doing  God's 
work  ;  but  he  believed  also  that  he  could  not  do  the 
work  without  God.  He  was  a  fellow-labourer  with 
God.  It  is  one  of  the  principles  of  the  economy  of 
salvation  that  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 

»  I  Cor.  ii.  II,  R.V.  -  Rom.viii.  26,  R.V.  »  Eph.  vi.  18. 


ON   CHRISTIAN    PRAYER  97 

is  dependent  upon  the  efforts  of  man.  God  waits  upon 
the  prayers  of  His  people,  and  every  effort  of  prayer 
in  the  line  of  the  divine  purpose  is  seconded  by  a 
divine  exercise  of  power.  We  pray,  and  the  Spirit 
brings  us  into  the  right  condition  for  receiving  the 
blessing  which  God  is  eager  to  bestow ;  but,  what 
is  neither  more  nor  less  wonderful,  we  pray  and  the 
Spirit  brings  others  for  whom  we  intercede  into  the 
same  condition. 

Intercession  delivers  prayer  from  self-seeking.  It 
is  a  testimony  to  the  universality  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  kinship  of  men.  We  are  members  one  of  another, 
and,  as  God's  children,  cannot  ask  or  enjoy  God's 
blessings  alone.  "  Thy  kingdom  come "  implies  that 
we  intercede  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  for  others. 
Hence  there  is  in  Christian  prayer  not  only  co-operation 
with  the  Spirit,  but  co-operation  with  one  another  in 
the  privilege  of  intercession. 

This  co-operation  in  intercession  was  a  work  in 
which  Paul  habitually  engaged,  and  to  which  he  habitu- 
ally exhorted  others.  "  Wherefore  also  we  pray  always 
for  you,  that  our  God  would  count  you  worthy  of  this 
calling."  ^  We  "  do  not  cease  to  pray  for  you."  ^  His 
ministry  was  a  ministry  of  prayer.  Prayer  was  the 
very  soul  of  his  work.  But  in  another  sense  also  his 
was  a  ministry  of  prayer.  He  believed  that  his  ministry 
was  supported  and  rendered  effective  by  the  prayers  of 
others.  "  Praying  always  for  you  "  ^  has  the  reciprocal 
claim  "  Praying  also  for  us."  *  "  Brethren,  pray  for 
us,"  ^  expresses  one  of  his  deepest  needs.  "  I  know," 
he  says,  "  that  this  shall  turn  to  my  salvation  through 

'  2  Thess.  i.  II.  »  Col.  i.  9.  3  j^^  j. 

*  Ibid.  iv.  3,  »  I  Thess.  v.  25:  cf.  2  Thess.  iii.  i. 

7 


98     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

your  prayer."  ^  "  I  trust  that  through  your  prayers 
I  shall  be  given  unto  you."'  Sometimes  he  arranges 
even  a  concert  of  prayer,  a  prayer-covenant :  "  Ye 
also  helping  together  by  prayer  for  us " ' ;  "  that  ye 
strive  together  with  me  in  your  prayers  to  God  for 
me.  * 

Intercessory  prayer  presents  to  us  one  of  the  pro- 
foundest  mysteries  of  the  spiritual  life.  Our  character 
and  destiny  are  open  to  the  influence  of  the  prayers 
of  others,  as  theirs  are  to  ours.  At  first  sight  it  is  an 
appalling  thought  that  we  should  be  exposed  to  the 
prayer-influence  of  our  shortsighted  fellow-creatures  ; 
that  their  prayers  should  be  capable  of  giving  new 
form  and  direction  to  our  lives  ;  and  that  we  likewise 
should  have  such  influence  by  prayer  over  them.  It 
is  thus  we  are  beset  before  and  behind  by  unseen 
powers,  whose  action  we  cannot  prognosticate  or  control, 
and  life  passes  largely  into  the  hands  of  others. 

This  may  be  accepted  as  part  of  the  divine  order. 
Prayer  can  never  be  confined  to  petitions  for  the 
desires  of  self;  and  immediately  it  passes  beyond,  it 
becomes  intercession,  and  intercession  from  its  very 
nature  ceases  to  be  prayer  if  faith  in  its  efficacy  be 
evacuated  by  the  suspicion  that  those  for  whom  we 
pray  are  not  affected  by  God  through  our  prayers. 
The  great  intercessory  prayer  of  Jesus  for  His  disciples 
and  for  the  world  would  lose  its  significance  if  prayer 
made  no  change  in  their  or  the  world's  condition.  It 
would  be  nothing  more  than  a  pious  delusion. 

But  the  efficacy  of  intercession  is  verified  by  the 
experience  of  the  ripest  Christians.  The  lives  of  such 
men  as  Miiller  and  Quarrier  present  some  staggering 

»  Phil.  i.  19.      *  Philem.  22.      »  2  Cor.  i.  11.      ♦  Rom.  xv.  30. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER  99 

facts  to  those  who  h'mit  the  results  of  prayer  to  sub- 
jective changes  in  those  who  pray.  The  answers  to 
prayer  which  were  so  frequent  in  their  experience 
point  to  the  fact  that  God  often  answers  the  prayer  of 
one  man  by  moving  another  in  the  direction  which 
issues  in  a  response.  And  why  should  we  marvel  at 
this  spiritual  inter-action  if  we  believe  that  each 
individual  spirit  is  dependent  for  life  and  energy  upon 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?  The  spiritual  kingdom  is  a  com- 
munity in  which  no  one  liveth  to  himself  or  prayeth 
to  himself. 

And  yet  the  influence  of  intercessory  prayer  on 
the  lives  of  others  is  no  more  appalling  or  mysterious 
than  the  commonplace  fact  of  everyday  experience, 
that  our  lives  are  twisted,  enhanced,  depreciated,  spoiled, 
broken  or  ennobled  by  the  actio7i  of  others.  We  are 
exposed  in  a  thousand  ways  to  the  error  and  hatred 
and  malice  of  those  around  us.  Half  our  sorrows  in 
life  are  imposed  upon  us  by  others.  Sickness  comes 
to  us  by  the  carelessness  of  a  neighbour.  The  act  of 
another  diverts  our  life  into  a  path  that  we  ourselves 
would  never  have  chosen.  Our  life  may  be  saved  by 
another's  care  or  lost  by  another's  negligence.  It  would 
be  strange  indeed  if  in  the  spiritual  world  the  inter- 
dependence of  life  did  not  hold  good  as  in  the  natural 
world ;  if  the  subtle  influence  of  prayer  should  not 
affect  us  in  the  shaping  of  our  life  in  the  same  way 
as  the  more  manifest  influence  of  action. 

But  the  mystery  of  intercessory  influence  is  less  to 
be  dreaded  than  that  of  action,  for  this  reason  :  whilst 
in  common  life  man  acts  for  good  or  ill  directly  upon 
maii,  in  prayer  we  act  upon  each  other  through  the 
beneficent  and  purifying  medium  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 


loo    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

which  stifles  all  malevolence  and  can  only  operate  in 
the  line  of  the  highest  good.  The  water  is  filtered 
of  all  impurities  before  it  is  put  into  the  cup  which 
God  gives  to  others  to  drink.  This  is  our  safeguard 
in  interceding  for  others,  our  security  in  their  interced- 
ing for  us :  neither  they  nor  we  can  ever  by  prayer 
be  taken  out  of  the  scope  or  reach  of  the  all-controlling 
love  and  goodness  and  holiness  of  God. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that,  in  the  example  of 
Paul  as  a  man  of  prayer,  prayer  is  almost  uniforwly 
associated  ivith  t/iatiksgiving.  This  is  his  "  character- 
istic formula,"  ^  his  precept  and  his  practice.  When  he 
comes  into  the  presence  of  God  he  seems  to  unlock 
the  doors  of  his  memory,  and  his  crowded  blessings 
troop  out  to  the  amazement  and  joy  of  a  heart  which 
has  so  many  trophies  of  prevailing  prayer  that  it  loses 
count  of  them  in  a  wonder  of  thanksgiving,  and, 
believing  in  God's  delight  in  giving,  it  is  bold  to  ask 
for  more.  I  "  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for  you,  making 
mention  of  you  in  my  prayers." ^  "I  thank  my  God, 
making  mention  of  thee  always  in  my  prayers."'  "We 
give  thanks  to  God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  praying  always  for  you."  *  "  I  thank  my  God 
upon  every  remembrance  of  you,  always  in  every  prayer 
of  mine  for  you  all  making  request  with  joy."  ^ 

It  was  because  habitual  association  of  thanksgiving 
and  prayer  had  proved  in  his  own  experience  a  source 
of  joy  and  power  that  he  passed  it  on  as  a  precept 
of  devotion   to   the   churches.     "  Continue   in    prayer," 

'  Dean  Howson's  Character  of  Paul,  203  ;  in  which  see  this 
point  carefully  elaborated. 

»  Eph.  i.  16.  ^  Philem.  4.  *  Col.  i.  3. 

'  Phil.  i.  3-5 :  cf.  Rom.  i.  8,  10,  1 1 ;  2  Tim.  i,  3 ;  Col.  i.  9,  10,  12. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   PRAYER  loi 

• 
he   writes   to  the  Colossians,  "  and  watch  in  the  same 

with  thanksgiving."  1  To  the  Philippians  he  writes, 
"  In  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanks- 
giving let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God."- 
To  the  Thessalonians  he  offers  the  same  exhortation, 
"Pray  without  ceasing.  In  everything  give  thanks."^ 
Thanksgiving  is  the  garnishing  of  all  our  prayers,  the 
incense  with  which  we  approach  the  altar,  the  joyous 
expression  of  our  filial  love,  the  token  of  our  confidence 
that  God  as  the  Giver  rejoices  in  the  joy  of  the  receiver. 
The  Apostle  lays  down  still  another  precept  of 
prayer.  As  prayer  is  to  be  associated  on  the  Godward 
side  with  thanksgiving,  on  the  manward  side  it  is  to  be 
dissociated  from  wrath  and  disputing}  Our  faith  that 
God's  wrath  is  averted  from  us  demands  the  aversion  of 
our  wrath  from  men  ;  and  God's  reconciliation  in  the 
great  controversy  between  us  and  Him  necessitates 
our  reconciliation  with  those  with  whom  we  are  at 
variance.  The  heart  must  be  purified  in  its  thoughts 
toward  men  before  we  can  lift  up  to  God  holy  hands — 
hands  consecrated  to  the  doing  of  His  will  :  for  there 
is  as  good  reason  why  we  should  be  pious  in  our  lives 
as  in  our  prayers.  Forgiveness  is  the  condition  of 
forgiveness ;  the  desire  to  bless,  of  the  capacity  to 
be  blessed ;  and  the  best  preparation  for  being  right 
with  God  is  to  be  right  with  men. 

»  Col.  iv.  2.  »  Phil,  iv.  6.  »  i  Thess.  v.  ij,  i8., 

♦  I  Tim.  ii.  8. 


ON  THINKING   THE  BEST 


"To  have  right  notions  and  tempers,  with  relation  to  this  world, 
is  as  essential  to  religion,  as  to  have  right  notions  of  God.  And  it  is 
as  possible  for  a  man  to  worship  a  crocodile,  and  yet  to  be  a  pious  man, 
as  to  have  his  affections  set  on  this  world,  and  yet  be  a  good  Christian." — 
Law's  Serious  Call. 

"  Querulousness  of  mind  tends  in  fact  rather  towards  irreligion ;  and 
it  has  played,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  part  whatever  in  the  construction  of 
religious  systems." — William  James's  The  Varieties  of  Religious  Ex- 
perience. 

"  If  we  may  assume  that  the  keynote  of  a  normal  Christian  life  is  not  the 
thought  of  sin,  or  of  penitence,  or  of  suffering,  or  of  anxiety  of  any  sort, 
but  rather  that  of  a  joyous  realisation  of  the  highest  good,  a  realisation 
begun  now  and  growing  ever  towards  greater  fulness  — if  we  may  assume 
this,  then  it  follows  that  the  Christian  mode  of  life  tends  directly  toward 
physical  health.  Other  things  being  equal,  a  religion  that  ruled  by  fear 
would  have  less  robust  votaries  than  one  ruled  by  love." — Coe's  The 
Spiritual  Life. 


104 


CHAPTER    VIII 
ON  THINKING   THE  BEST 

IF  prayer  is  the  flower  of  the  spiritual  life,  its  roots 
are  to  be  found  deep  down  in  the  soil  of  our 
ordinary  thoughts.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  we 
should  think  the  best  in  order  to  pray  the  best.  Prayer 
that  outruns  thought  is  words,  but  prayer  which  ex- 
presses our  thoughts  takes  character  and  value  from 
these  thoughts  according  to  their  meanness  or  nobility. 
The  high-tide  mark  of  prayer  is  only  reached  by  us 
when  we  have  "  the  mind  of  Christ."  Then  prayer  is 
communion  based  upon  community  of  thought.  At 
this  point  prayer  ceases  to  struggle  with  language  :  it 
is  intercourse  maintained  for  the  very  pleasure  of  the 
intercourse — not  for  self-seeking,  but  for  self-realisation 
in  the  divine  life. 

But  the  best  thinking  is  valuable  for  the  best  living 
as  for  the  best  praying.  We  cannot  live  above  our 
thoughts,  though  we  may  think  above  our  life.  Of 
every  man  it  may  be  said,  "  As  he  thinketh  in  his  heart, 
so  is  he."  ^  Life  is  an  effort  to  express  our  thoughts 
in  action — an  effort  in  which  we  often  fail,  but  from 
which  we  dare  not  cease.  We  begin  at  the  wrong  end 
when  we  try  to  force  ourselves  to  do  right  things. 
Think  the  best  thoughts  and  you  live  the  best  life. 
'  Prov.  xxiii.  7. 


io6    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

Make  your  reservoir  in  the  altitudes,  and  the  pressure 
is  increased  :  the  water  then  comes  down  into  the  lower 
reaches  of  life  and  needs  no  mechanical  force.  In  this 
also,  when  we  have  "  the  mind  of  Christ,"  life  loses  its 
straining  and  its  effort ;  it  has  the  dynamic  of  thoughts 
that  flow  from  above.  High  thinking,  then,  is  essential 
to  high  living. 

It  is  our  habitual  thoughts,  not  our  occasional 
thoughts,  which  shape  our  lives  and  fashion  our  cha- 
racters— the  thoughts  that  come  to  us  so  naturally  as 
to  come  almost  without  thinking.  For  every  thought 
which  we  entertain  leaves  its  impress  or  its  stain  upon 
the  mind,  giving  form  and  colour  to  all  successive 
thinking.  It  never  passes  wholly  away  from  us.  It 
may  lie  sleeping  in  some  unused  corner  of  the  mind — 
the  subliminal  consciousness,  as  it  may  be  called — but 
it  awakes  and  comes  forth  at  unexpected  seasons  to 
reprove  or  to  encourage,  to  shame  or  to  appraise  us. 
Our  habitual  thoughts  are  so  much  ours,  so  inwrought 
into  the  texture  of  the  mind,  that  we  realise  them  less 
as  ours  than  as  ourselves.  These  are  the  thoughts 
that  guide  the  will  in  its  unguarded  moments  :  they 
decide  the  trend  of  conduct,  and  determine  the  minutiae 
of  life  which  form  so  large  a  part  of  life's  whole. 

The  weakness  of  our  spiritual  life  often  arises  from 
our  not  cultivating  the  habit  of  thinking  the  best.  We 
make  occasional  excursions  into  the  higher  altitudes, 
but  too  seldom  find  our  mental  life  in  the  serener  air  ; 
too  seldom  bathe  our  souls  in  the  sunlight  of  the  divine 
presence  ;  too  seldom  rest  our  spirits  in  the  sublime, 
simple,  eternal  certitudes.  We  live  for  the  most  part 
in  the  cities  of  the  plain,  thinking  the  thoughts  of  the 
multitude,  pursuing  the  poor  and  passing  ambitions  of 


ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  107 

the  hour,  content  with  the  thought-fashions  of  the 
schools,  and  our  spiritual  life  is  half-starved.  We  must 
not  become  the  slaves  of  what  we  call  modern  thought, 
though  we  may  be  its  servants,  adding  our  contribution 
to  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  the  day.  Thought 
in  the  making  can  best  be  served  by  living  in  the 
higher  plane  of  thought  that  is  made  ;  current  opinion, 
by  regard  to  the  eternal  verities.  In  other  words,  in 
order  to  fight  well  we  must  often  escape  from  the 
battle  :  for  great  and  good  work  in  life  is  best  performed 
by  those  who  live  in  the  higher  elevations  and  come 
down  to  the  doing  of  it,  fired  by  the  vision  of  the  mount 
and  calmed  by  the  stillness  of  its  solitude. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Apostle  Paul  argues  for 
the  transformation  of  life  by  the  renewal  of  the  mind. 
He  does  not  attempt  to  enforce  a  new  moral  code  in 
the  shape  of  elaborate  rules  of  conduct.  These  may 
come  after,  and  may  be  drawn  up  by  each  Christian 
for  himself  To  change  the  life  Paul  begins  above  the 
life,  at  life's  source — the  mind,  the  thoughts.  His 
guiding  principle  is,  "  Be  ye  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  your  mind."^ 

When  we  look  at  the  kind  of  life  which  the  Gospel 
demands,  we  understand  why  we  must  begin  with  the 
mind.  It  is  not  a  life  of  mere  restriction  and  pro- 
hibition. It  is  a  life  of  rehabilitation  and  sublimation, 
the  metamorphosis  of  the  faculties  and  capacities  of 
our  being.  Our  bodies,  as  the  agents  and  instruments 
of  life,  are  to  be  presented  as  "  a  living  sacrifice,  holy, 
acceptable  unto  God  "  ^ :  a  living  sacrifice,  for  what  is 
demanded  is  not  the  deadening  of  our  affections  and 
thoughts  and  will,  but  the  revivification  of  them  by  the 
^  Rom.  xii.  2 :  cf.  Eph.  iv.  23.  *  Rom.  xii.  i. 


io8     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

renewal  of  the  mind  as  apprehending  new  motives  and 
ideals  and  ends.  For  the  mind  that  is  renewed  by 
grace  does  not  require  to  drive  the  body  as  a  taskmaster 
drives  a  slave  into  blind  and  unwilling  obedience 
to  external  laws.  The  renewed  mind  apprehends  by 
its  instincts,  proves  by  its  intuitions, "  what  is  that  good, 
and  acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God  "  ^ ;  and,  having 
received  for  itself  a  new  accession  of  power,  wins  the 
body  as  its  instrument  to  the  furtherance  of  new  ends. 
In  other  words,  what  is  wanted  is  not  new  machinery, 
but  new  energy  ;  a  new  mind  to  empower  the  body  to 
new  and  larger  issues  ;  a  reinvigoration  of  the  body 
as  a  living  sacrifice  by  the  regeneration  of  the  mind. 
This,  says  Paul,  is  "  your  reasonable  service  "  ;  for,  after 
all,  living  the  best  is  only  possible  by  thinking  the  best. 
It  should  be  observed  that  the  duty  of  thinking  the 
best  is  based  by  Paul  upon  the  Resurrection.  "  If  then 
ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ,  seek  the  things 
that  are  above,  where  Christ  is,  seated  on  the  right 
hand  of  God.  Set  your  mind  on  the  things  that  are 
above,  not  on  the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth.  For 
ye  died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."^  It 
is  the  manner  of  Paul  to  vivify  doctrines  with  ethical 
issues,  and  to  strengthen  ethical  demands  by  doctrinal 
sanctions.  Here  the  Resurrection  is  introduced  into 
our  life  as  a  living  force.  We  are  to  think  the  best 
because  of  what  we  are — men  and  women  who  are 
sharing  already  in  Christ's  resurrection  ;  for,  in  the 
very  act  of  faith's  surrender  to  Christ,  we  have  died  to 
this  world,  and  our  life  is  already  the  heavenly  life, 
hidden  to  the  world,  which  cannot  appreciate  its  beauty, 
its  holiness,  its  peace,  but  "  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
•  Rom.  xii.  2,  »  Col.  iii.  1-3,  R.V. 


ON  THINKING  THE   BEST  109 

We  must  look  down  on  life  from  the  standpoint  of 
Christ ;  we  must  come  down  from  thence  to  translate 
our  vision  into  reality  ;  we  must  embody  our  best 
thoughts  in  deeds.  Our  life  which  is  "  hid  with  Christ  " 
is  to  be  lived  in  the  world  :  its  spring  there,  here  its 
issue.  But  if  any  man  will  seek  these  "  things  above," 
he  must  set  his  mind  upon  them :  he  must  quicken 
desire  by  thought,  by  living  in  them  as  his  mental 
atmosphere. 

But  what  are  these  things  which  we  are  to  think  ? 
Are  they  strange,  unearthly  thoughts,  which  never  before 
entered  the  heart  of  man  ?  "  The  things  above  "  are 
the  eternal  types  of  virtue,  which  the  human  heart  in 
all  nations  has  partially  seen  in  vision,  and  which  the 
best  men  have  everywhere  been  pursuing.  All  moral 
beauty  which  men  have  been  groping  after,  Christianity 
assumes  as  its  own.  It  is  here  Christianity  comes  in 
contact  with  the  ethics  of  Pagan  life,  not  to  destroy,  but 
to  fulfil.  It  assimilates  the  best  and  makes  it  better. 
But  it  brings  its  own  distinctive  contribution  to  the 
moral  life  of  the  world — a  double  contribution :  it 
gathers  up  in  Christ's  person  and  character  the  scattered 
fragments  of  all  human  virtue  and  displays  them  in 
unity  and  completeness  ;  and,  having  taken  up  man's 
life  into  the  risen  life  of  Christ,  it  says,  Think  now  on 
these  things,  these  virtues  which  are  and  have  been 
the  heavenly  forms  of  all  true  living — they  are  the 
native  air  of  the  renewed  mind  ;  as  sharing  the  risen 
life,  you  have  the  power  to  live  in  them  in  your  thoughts 
and  to  think  them  into  your  lives.  "  Whatsoever  things 
are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honourable,  whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever 
things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report  ; 


no    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think 
on  these  things.  .  .  .  These  things  do :  and  the  God 
of  peace  shall  be  with  you."  ^ 

Paul  regards  this  mind  of  Christ,  this  thinking  the 
best,  as  the  open  secret  of  our  victory  over  evil.  Like 
Christ,  Paul  emphasises  the  inwardness  of  the  Christian 
life.  Make  the  tree  good  and  the  fruit  will  be  good. 
Purify  the  fountain  and  you  sweeten  the  stream.  Think 
the  best  thought  and  you  cannot  do  the  worst  deed. 
"  Abhor  that  which  is  evil "  :  be  its  enemy  in  thought ; 
kill  it  in  its  very  conception.  But  how?  "Cleave  to 
that  which  is  good"^ — attach,  fix,  your  thoughts  to 
the  best :  appropriate  it  inalienably.  It  is  yours  in 
virtue  of  the  renewed  mind.  Store  up  in  your  mind 
every  thought  of  holiness,  and  the  thoughts  of  evil 
will  perish  of  neglect.  This  is  love  "  without  hypocrisy." ' 
As  Luther  has  said,  "  We  cannot  prevent  an  evil 
thought  from  coming  into  our  head,  but  we  can  prevent 
it  from  making  its  nest  there."  The  life  of  the  best 
is  the  death  of  the  worst.  We  conquer  not  by  fighting 
against  the  bad,  but  by  living  for  the  good. 

This  is  one  of  Paul's  guiding  principles,  and  he  applies 
it  in  various  ways — in  our  attitude  towards  God,  in  our 
attitude  towards  others,  in  our  attitude  towards  ourselves. 

In  our  attitude  towards  God,  this  is  the  weapon  to 
which  we  trust  in  "  casting  down  reasonings  and  every 
high  thing  that  is  exalted  against  the  knowledge  of 
God."*  We  are  not  to  "  war  after  the  flesh,"*  with 
"carnal  weapons,"  as  if  evil  thoughts  were  a  rival,  as 
if  reasonings  had  to  be  pitted  against  reasonings. 
The  victory    is   to  be   won  along  other   lines :  not   by 

»  Phil.  iv.  8,  9,  R.V.  »  Rom.  xii.  9.  »  Ibid.  R.V. 

*  2  Cor.  X.  5,  R.V.  margin.     *  Ibid,  x,  3. 


ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  in 

exhausting  the  strength  of  our  mind  by  thinking  about, 
and  fighting  against,  thoughts  of  God  which  we  feel  to 
be  unworthy  of  us,  but  by  "  bringing  every  thought  into 
captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."^  When  Christ 
commands  our  thoughts  and  uses  them  in  His  service, 
the  opposing  thoughts  lose  their  strength  for  want  of 
opposition.  The  "  mind  of  Christ "  justifies  its  thoughts 
not  by  warring  against  the  thoughts  of  the  carnal  mind, 
but  by  the  very  fact  of  being  held  in  "  captivity  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ." 

So,  in  our  attitude  towards  others,  the  same  principle 
may  be  applied.  Take  the  case  of  resentment.  The 
carnal  mind  suggests  retaliation.  Paul  says,  "  Render 
to  no  man  evil  for  evil."  But  he  goes  farther  than  to 
give  a  mere  counsel  of  perfection.  He  shows  us  how 
it  is  to  be  done  :  "  Take  thought  for  things  honour- 
able in  the  sight  of  all  men"^ — think  beforehand, 
have  the  mind  preoccupied  with  thoughts  of  things 
honourable.  If  we  are  preoccupied  with  the  best 
thoughts,  we  scarcely  require  to  watch  against  the 
worst.     The  good  crowds  out  the  bad. 

The  same  principle  is  also  applied  in  two  ways  to 
our  attitude  towards  ourselves — over-esteem  regarding 
our  person,  and  over-anxiety  regarding  our  life — the 
over-thinking  of  self,  and  the  over-thinking  of  circum- 
stance. In  regard  to  the  first,  Paul's  advice  to  every 
man  who  would  live  the  spiritual  life  is  "  not  to  think 
of  himself  more  highly  than  he  ought  to  think :  but  so 
to  think  as  to  think  soberly,  according  as  God  hath 
dealt  to  each  man  a  measure  of  faith."  ^  The  difficulty 
of  the  Christian  life  is  that  we  so  often  pride  ourselves 
upon  our  privileges,  forgetting  that  they  are  concessions, 
]  2  Cor.  X.  5,  R.V.       »  Rom.  xii.  17,  R.V.       »  Idid.  3,  R.V. 


112     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

and  upon  our  graces,  forgetting  that  they  are  gifts.  We 
over-think  ^  ourselves,  measuring  ourselves  against  the 
standard  of  conduct  in  the  world  instead  of  against  the 
standard  of  faith  in  God.  In  this  way  the  old  worldly 
spirit  of  over-reaching,  of  pre-eminence,  of  seeking  the 
uppermost  seats,  creeps  in,  and  our  thoughts  regarding 
ourselves  become  swollen  and  unhealthy.  The  cure 
for  this,  says  Paul,  is  to  preoccupy  the  mind  with 
thoughts  becoming  to  the  renewed  mind  - :  think  so 
as  to  think  soberly,  healthily,  soundly,^  giving  heed 
to  your  standing  in  faith  before  God,  not  to  your 
posturing  in  pre-eminence  before  men.  To  think  the 
best  regarding  ourselves  is  not  to  over-think  ourselves, 
but  to  think  "  according  as  God  hath  dealt  to  every  man." 
So,  too,  regarding  the  over-thinking  of  our  circum- 
stances, which  produces  the  divided  mind.  The  cure 
of  care  and  anxiety  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  attempt 
to  unthink  our  troubles,  but  in  preoccupying  the  mind 
with  a  higher  set  of  thoughts.  Attain  to  the  "  peace 
of  God,"  says  Paul,  and  distraction  ceases.  But  how  ? 
Switch  your  thoughts  into  the  upward  path — the  path 
of  prayer.  Rehearse  your  blessings  and  remember  your 
mercies,  and  be  thankful.  "  In  nothing  be  anxious  ; 
but  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with 
thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God "  * ;  and  the  path  of  prayer  will  be  to  you  the 
path  of  peace.  And  having  attained  to  this  "  peace 
of  God  "  by  thinking  the  best,  it  will  stand  guard  like  a 
sentinel,  and  keep  "  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts 
in    Christ  Jesus."  ^     We   do   not   get    rid    of    care   by 

'  Rom.  xii.  3,  {mfp(})p6pf'iv.  *  /did.  2. 

*  /did.  3,  (f)povf'iv  (h  TO  <T(i)^povflv.  *  Phil.  iv.  6,  R.V. 

4  Ibid.  7,  R.V. 


ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  113 

thinking  about  it,  or  by  trying  not  to  think  about  it, 
but  by  rising  above  it.  When  our  thoughts  are  kept  in 
Christ  Jesus,  we  know  how  to  leave  our  life  and  life's 
affairs  also  in  His  keeping. 

This  leads  us  to  notice  the  therapeutic  value  of 
thought.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  many  of  the 
ills  of  life  are  not  only  aggravated  but  induced  by 
what  one  might  call  diseased  and  unhealthy  thinking. 
There  are  two  planes  of  thought,  in  either  of  which  we 
may  live — the  higher  and  the  lower,  each  of  which 
is  dominated  by  a  different  set  of  thoughts  and  aims. 
In  the  lower  plane  men  live  from  hand  to  mouth, 
pursuing  the  tangible,  the  immediate,  and  the  near, 
cherishing  short  and  narrow  views  of  themselves  and 
the  world,  eager  for  success,  nervous  of  failure,  worried 
by  sickness,  pevish  in  adversity,  perverse  in  misfortune, 
over-reaching  in  business,  greedy  of  pre-eminence  and 
preferment,  over-anxious  in  securing  a  competency — 
unable  to  live  because  of  the  stress  and  strain  of  making 
a  living.  All  this  gives  rise  to  a  nervous,  fussy,  neurotic 
temperament,  instability  of  mental  equilibrium,  and 
the  disturbance  of  the  physical  repose  of  health.  It 
is  one  of  the  alarming  symptoms  of  modern  life,  due 
in  large  part  to  the  materialistic  ideals  of  a  poor  but 
popular  philosophy. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  there  should  be  a 
revolt  against  the  life  of  this  lower  plane,  in  which  such 
costly  sacrifices  are  being  offered  to  the  idols  of  the 
market-place  and  of  the  world.  Men  are  beginning  to 
realise  that  this  type  of  life  leads  to  depression  of 
vitality,  to  bondage,  to  fuss  and  fear,  to  the  vulgarisation 
of  their  whole  nature.  Hence  the  call  to  the  higher 
plane  of  thinking,  and  the  rehabilitation  of  the  mind  as 

8 


114    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

a  regulative  and  curative  agency.  Christian  Science  or 
Mind-cure,  spite  of  all  its  extravagances,  brings  a  needed 
message  to  the  age,  to  those  who  have  lost  their  bearings 
in  the  whirl  and  noise  of  city  life,  to  those  who  are 
played  out  with  business  or  pleasure,  fatigued  with 
formality  or  fashion,  the  enervated  and  the  blas^,  who 
demand  some  stimulant,  some  spice  of  novelty  and 
mystery  to  whip  up  their  jaded  nerves.  Ordinary 
people  in  country  villages  and  quiet  towns — people 
whose  minds  are  calmed  by  the  observance  of  nature 
in  her  sober  and  leisurely  processes  of  growth  and 
decay,  who  are  engaged  in  honest  and  healthy  labour 
and  go  to  bed  at  a  timely  hour,  do  not  need  this 
new  religious  "  pick-me-up."  They  find  in  the  Gospel 
all  that  is  true  in  it,  and  what  is  new  they  do  not 
require.  To  them  the  Gos-pel  is  a  food  rather  than 
a  medicine. 

And  what  is  the  truth  which  is  emphasised  in  this 
new  semi-religious  cult  ?  It  is  the  old  Christian  duty  of 
thinking  the  best,  of  preserving  mental  sanity  by  en- 
gaging the  mind  in  healthy  exercise  and  feeding  it  with 
wholesome  food.  It  preaches  against  care,  worry,  fuss, 
fidgetiness  ;  it  preaches  against  brooding,  invalidism, 
grumbling,  and  all  manner  of  pessimism  ;  it  ostracises 
all  complaints  against  weather  and  misfortune  and 
circumstance,  all  discussion  of  ailments  and  symptoms, 
and  insists  upon  a  healthy-minded  optimism  which  sees 
the  world  and  life  bathed  in  roseate  hues ;  it  inveighs 
against  the  inordinate  passion  for  wealth  and  social  pre- 
eminence, and  especially  against  the  morbid  craving  for 
medicines,  patent  or  otherwise,  asserting  that  the  best 
tonic  is  a  mind  well  braced  by  wholesome  thinking  and 
wholesome  living.     All  this  is  true,  but  not  new  ;   yet 


ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  115 

all  this  is  as  appropriate  now  as  ever — a  fine  practical 
philosophy  for  an  over-practical  age. 

But  when  we  look  for  the  rational  basis  of  this 
teaching  of  Christian  Science,  it  is  not  easily  discovered. 
In  its  cosmopolitan  eclecticism  it  borrows  from  Chris- 
tianity, Emersonianism,  Idealism,  Evolution,  Spiritism, 
Hinduism.^  It  freely  uses  our  Christian  terminology 
without  our  Christian  contents.  It  is  a  type  of  teaching 
which  suits  an  age  which  demands  quick  returns  and 
immediate  results,  come  how  they  may  ;  but  a  mind- 
cure  which  fails  to  meet  the  legitimate  demands  of  the 
mind,  a  Christian  science  which  divorces  Christian 
morality  from  Christian  doctrine,  can  be  little  more  than 
an  ephemeral  religious  cult,  which  lives  by  breathing  a 
religious  atmosphere  which  it  has  done  nothing  to 
create  or  maintain. 

When  we  go  back  to  the  Apostle  Paul  we  find  all 
that  is  of  practical  value  in  Christian  Science.  Here 
it  has  a  firm  rational  basis  which  supplies  it  with  the 
necessary  dynamic.  We  may  freely  grant  that  much 
of  the  teaching  insisted  upon  by  Christian  Science 
has  been  neglected  by  Christians  in  the  practice  of 
life  ;  and  for  the  enforcement  of  its  importance  we  are 
indebted  to  the  new  cult.  It  is  easy,  however,  to  say, 
"Do  this,"  or  "Don't  do  that,"  but  sooner  or  later  we  ask 
"Why?  How?"  It  is  here  Christian  Science  fails  ;  and 
it  is  here  Christianity,  in  its  older  and  purer  form, 
satisfies  the  mind. 

Take  one  or  two  instances.  "  Don't  fear  ;  be  healthy- 
minded  ;  fear  is  bondage ! "  Good.  But  how  ?  Are  we 
simply  to  believe  that  we  are  healthy-minded,  and  we 
are  so  ?  What  if  we  have  regrets,  failures,  fears,  shames, 
'  Cf.  James's  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  p.  94  ff. 


ii6    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

which  think  themselves  into  the  very  texture  of  our 
mind  ?  Paul  brings  us  at  once  into  contact  with  God. 
"  God  hath  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  fear  ;  but  of  power, 
and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind."  ^  "  Don't  worry  !  " 
That  is  excellent  advice.  But  how?  Are  we  to 
unthink  our  cares,  or  make-believe  that  they  do  not 
exist  ?  Paul  says :  "  Be  careful  for  nothing ;  but  in 
everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanks- 
giving let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God. 
And  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding, 
shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ 
Jesus."  ^  "  Think  the  best :  let  your  mind  live  in  the 
upper  plane  !  "  But  why,  and  how?  Paul  says,  because 
Christ  is  risen,  and  you  are  "  raised  together  with 
Christ,"  ^  and  you  need  not  spend  your  thought  and 
energy  upon  a  world  to  which  you  have  already  died. 
Are  you  played  out  with  conforming  to  the  stupid 
fashion  of  the  world  ?  "  Get  rid  of  vulgar  competition 
in  getting  and  spending  and  hoarding  and  pleasuring  !  " 
Good,  but  how  ?  Paul's  answer  is  :  "  Be  not  fashioned 
according  to  this  world :  but  be  ye  transformed  by 
the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what 
is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God."  * 
"  Are  you  subject  to  the  fear  of  death  ?  Get  rid  of 
it !  "  How  ?  "  Christ,"  says  Paul,  "  hath  abolished  death, 
and  hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,  through 
the  Gospel."  ^  "  Don't  think  of  sin  :  get  rid  of  it :  ignore 
it!  It  is  nothing:  it  is  a  He:  it  does  not  exist!"  Paul 
lifts  us  above  this  region  of  make-believe  and  preserves 
to  us  the  feeling  of  rationality  in  a  world  of  facts.  Sin 
exists,  says   Paul,  but  Christ  died  for  sin,  and  by  His 

"  2  Tim.  i.  7.  »  Phil.  iv.  6,  7.  *  Col.  iii.  I,  R.V. 

*  Rom.  xii.  2,  R.V.  '  2  Tim.  i.  10. 


ON   THINKING   THE   BEST  117 

death  has  delivered  us,  and  set  us  "  free  from  the 
law  of  sin  and  death."  ^  "  Be  optimistic  i  "  Good,  but 
how  ?  By  putting  on  spectacles  of  a  rosy  tint  to 
keep  up  the  pleasing  illusion  whilst  we  wink  at  the 
facts?  Paul,  looking  at  the  ugly  facts  of  life  with  the 
naked  eye,  says  from  his  own  experience :  "In  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him 
that  loved  us."^ 

On  examining  this  new  cult  of  Christian  Science 
we  can  only  say  that  "  the  old  is  better."  It  is 
a  resuscitation  of  old  truth :  a  needed  emphasis  of 
neglected  truth.  All  that  is  good  in  it  for  food  may 
be  taken  without  harm,  but  its  sauce  of  metaphysics 
and  garnishing  of  philosophy  may  be  dispensed  with 
by  a  healthy  appetite  that  has  been  accustomed  to 
feed  upon  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

1  Rom.  viii.  2.  *  Ibid,  37. 


ON    CHRISTIAN   COURTESY 


I»9 


"I  am  very  happy  in  my  present  environment,  though  mean  enough 
myself,  and  so,  of  course,  all  around  me  ;  yet,  I  am  sure,  we  for  the 
most  part  are  transfigured  to  one  another,  and  are  that  to  each  other 
which  we  aspire  to  be  ourselves.  The  longest  course  of  mean  and 
trivial  intercourse  may  not  prevent  my  practising  this  divine  courtesy 
to  my  companions.  .  .  .  We  are  all  of  us  Apollos  serving  some 
Admetus." — Thoreau's  Letters. 

"  Courtesy  is,  like  grace  and  beauty,  that  which  begets  liking  and  an 
inclination  to  love  one  another  at  the  first  sight,  and  in  the  beginning 
of  an  acquaintance  and  famiharity." — Montaigne's  Essays, 


CHAPTER  IX 
ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY 

COURTESY  is  the  manner  of  the  Court.  It  is  the 
highest  expression  of  refinement  and  good 
breeding — the  flower  of  social  conduct,  produced  after 
many  and  long  experiments  in  cultivation.  It  is 
presumed  that  it  grows  to  perfection  in  high  places, 
and  the  Court  sets  the  fashion  to  the  country.  There 
are  many  ways  of  dressing  and  discoursing  and  doing 
but  the  courteous  way  is  acknowledged  to  be  the 
best — the  best  for  us,  the  best  for  those  around  us. 
It  is  the  conduct  which  befits  ourselves  as  men  and 
others  as  our  fellow-men  ;  for  courtesy  is  the  homage 
which  we  pay  to  our  own  higher  nature  as  well  as 
to  that  of  others. 

Courtesy  is  the  oil  that  lubricates  the  social  machinery 
and  makes  it  run  smoothly.  Discourtesy  is  the  sand 
which  increases  friction,  creates  noise,  and  wears  down 
the  bearings.  Courtesy  never  finds  pleasure  in  giving 
pain  to  others.  It  is  slow  to  advertise  men's  failings, 
to  discover  their  weaknesses,  or  to  requite  their  insults  ; 
but  quick  to  appreciate  an  excellence,  to  praise  a 
virtue,  and  to  repay  with  interest  a  favour.  Courtesy 
has  an  eye  which  knows  what  not  to  see,  and  a  tongue 
which  knows  what  not  to  tell.     Courtesy  is  the  informal 


122     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

covenant  entered  into  by  refined  minds  not  to  increase 
the  irritation  and  misery  of  a  world  in  which  there  is 
already  enough  of  both.  It  blunts  the  sharp  edge  of 
clever  speech,  and  is  the  antidote  of  the  acid  temper. 
It  is  punctilious  in  small  kindnesses,  in  the  little 
delicacies  of  look  and  tone  and  gesture,  the  garnishings 
of  speech  and  act.  It  gives  grace  to  honesty,  win- 
someness  to  truth,  and  a  touch  of  poetry  to  all  prosaic 
things  in  life. 

Courtesy  is  not  a  habit  to  be  kept  for  high  occasions 
and  high  company.  It  becomes  the  cottage  as  well 
as  the  Court,  and  the  commoner  as  the  king.  In  all 
spheres  of  society  a  spice  of  conventionality  and 
ceremony  is  needed  to  prevent  us  from  forgetting  that 
we  and  others  are  better  than  we  appear,  and  more  than 
we  seem.  Courtesy  enables  us  to  pay  respect  to  the 
ideal  humanity  which  is  struggling  for  expression  in 
us  all.  It  is  due  to  friends  and  familiars  as  well  as 
to  courtiers  and  strangers,  for  the  flower  that  is  not 
nourished  in  the  seedplot  of  the  home  will  not  bloom 
freely  in  the  garden  of  society. 

Courtesy  may  be  nothing  more  than  polish  and 
veneer,  smoothness  of  speech  and  suavity  of  manner  ; 
but  even  then  it  is  better  than  rudeness  and  vulgarity. 
Besides,  the  habit  of  courtesy,  like  all  other  habits, 
tends  to  grow  inward  ;  for,  though  a  habit  may  not  be 
fashioned  by  nature,  it  may  fashion  nature  :  nature  may 
accommodate  itself  to  habit.  Refined  minds  produce 
refined  manners ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  refined  manners 
may  produce  refined  minds.  External  and  internal 
react  upon  each  other. 

Christian  courtesy  is  the  behaviour  which  is  becoming 
to  those  who  move  in  the  court  of  the  highest  of  all 


ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  123 

kings.  We  see  this  courtesy  in  its  perfection  in  Jesus, 
in  whom  mind  and  manner  were  in  such  complete 
accord  that  we  seldom  think  or  speak  of  His  courtesy  : 
the  word  carries  with  it  still  too  much  the  association 
of  effort,  of  appearance,  of  externality.  Yet  Christ 
Himself  set  the  fashion  of  courtesy  to  Christendom, 
as  a  King  to  His  subjects. 

The  first  and  finest  exponent  of  Christian  courtesy 
was  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  is  acknowledged  to  be  the 
master  of  manners,  the  greatest  of  Christian  gentlemen, 
gentle  and  manly  in  speech  and  act,  ever  respecting 
what  is  highest  in  himself  and  others,  never  causing 
needless  pain,  quick  to  apprehend  the  good  in  his 
fellows.  If  the  art  of  courtesy  is  the  art  of  overcoming 
evil  with  good,  of  fostering  flowers  by  sunshine  so  that 
weeds  are  smothered  by  their  shade,  Paul  was  a  master 
in  that  beneficent  art.  In  the  Apostle  Paul  we  may 
therefore  study  Christian  courtesy  both  in  precept  and 
in  practice. 

There  are  three  precepts  uttered  casually  in  his 
letters  which  embody  the  leading  principles  of  courtesy 
as  the  art  of  Christian  conduct  in  social  life. 

In  the  first  he  indicates  that  love  is  to  courtesy 
what  the  soul  is  to  the  body.  "  Let  love  be  without 
hypocrisy.  ...  In  love  of  the  brethren  be  tenderly 
affectioned  one  to  another;  in  honour  preferring  one 
another."  ^  Courtesy  is  not  merely  to  be  a  mask  in 
which  we  play  a  part  prescribed  to  us  on  the  social 
stage.  The  heart  is  to  be  behind  the  living  face,  in 
which  the  gleam  of  the  eye,  the  smile  of  the  lip,  and 
the  word  of  the  tongue  are  true  to  the  inner  disposition. 
Courtesy  is  to  be  the  language  of  love  in  speech  and 
*  Rom.  xii.  9,  10,  R.V. 


124     CULTURE   OF   THE  SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

c;resture  and  deed  among  those  who,  as  the  members  ol 
the  same  family,  cherish  towards  one  another  the  tender 
family  affection  which  knows  no  posturing  of  hypocrisy. 
When  such  love  is  in  the  heart  there  is  that  courtesy 
which  is  never  greedy  of  honour,  but  anticipates  the 
getting  of  honour  by  the  giving  of  it.  "  In  honour 
preferring  one  another."  Christian  courtesy  is  not 
affectation,  but  affection. 

The  second  indicates  the  method  by  which  courtesy 
may  be  cultivated  :  "  In  lowliness  of  mind  let  each 
esteem  other  better  than  themselves.  Look  not  every 
man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the 
things  of  others."  '  This  is  the  mental  attitude  which 
love  assumes  in  the  cultivation  of  courtesy — humility 
and  sympathy.  We  know  the  worst  of  ourselves  ;  we 
can  only  suspect  the  worst  of  others.  We  have  always 
reason  to  respect  others,  for  we  can  always  believe  them 
to  be  better  than  we  are,  seeing  we  cannot  know  them 
to  be  worse.  We  can  esteem  the  ideal  in  them  to  be 
better  than  the  real  in  ourselves.  But,  whilst  courtesy 
is  based  on  this  lowliness  of  mind,  it  grows  up  through 
sympathy.  When  we  give  up  our  self-seeking  and 
self-conceit,  and  project  ourselves  into  the  feelings  and 
interests  of  others,  our  manner  towards  them  becomes 
tender  and  delicate,  as  of  those  who  are  dealing  with 
their  own  flesh  and  blood.  Christian  courtesy  is 
thus  not  the  gracious  condescension  of  a  superior  to 
an  inferior,  nor  the  patronising  interestedness  of  a 
stranger  in  a  stranger's  affairs  ;  that  is  only  the  mask 
of  courtesy.  The  courtesy  of  the  Christian  is  the 
homage  of  the  heart  to  the  ideal  of  humanity  in  our 
neighbour,  and  our  identification  with  his  feelings  and 
>  Phil.  ii.  3,  4. 


ON    CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  125 

interests  so  as  to  make  that  ideal  real  for  him  and  us 
alike. 

The  third  of  these  precepts  relates  to  courtesy  in 
one  of  its  principal  manifestations — speech.  "  Let  your 
speech  be  alway  with  grace,  seasoned  with  salt,  that 
ye  may  know  how  ye  ought  to  answer  every  man."  ^ 
Courtesy  is  the  flavour  of  our  personality  which  we 
add  to  our  conversation.  All  truth  of  soul  is  enhanced 
and  commended  by  beauty  of  expression.  A  mere 
abstraction  admits  of  no  such  embellishment.  Wc 
cannot  give  a  personal  relish  to  a  proposition  of  Euclid. 
But  in  all  social  intercourse  the  tone  of  the  voice, 
the  gesture  of  the  body,  the  expression  of  the  eye, 
as  well  as  the  little  grace  notes  of  our  speech,  may 
so  stimulate  the  appetite  of  the  hearer  as  to  make  the 
truth  we  utter  more  palatable  and  more  easily  assimilated. 
The  same  ingredients  of  truth,  without  the  salt  of 
courtesy,  are  only  good  victuals  spoiled  in  the  cooking 
and  serving.  The  dishes  and  decorations  and  condi- 
ments on  the  table  do  not  make  a  dinner,  but  without 
them  a  dinner  is  not  so  well  relished.  We  are  so 
constituted  that  the  eye  has  to  be  fed  as  well  as  the 
palate.  So  speech  is  commended  to  the  mind  by  those 
little  delicacies  and  adornments  of  courtesy  without 
which  it  is  stale  and  insipid. 

The  commentary  on  Paul's  precepts  of  courtesy  is 
to  be  found  in  his  practice.  We  may  therefore  select 
some  typical  examples. 

When  one  speaks  of  one's  self,  of  one's  desires  and 

purposes,    especially  if  these    relate  to  strangers,  it  is 

not  easy  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  egotism  or  to  prevent 

the   impression   of  presumption.      Paul   had    a   desire, 

»  Col.  iv.  6, 


126    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

which  burned  like  a  fire  in  his  bones,  to  preach  the 
Gospel  at  Rome.  He  had  long  prayed  for  this  privilege, 
and  refers  to  it  in  the  opening  words  of  his  letter  to 
the  Romans.*  But,  with  the  delicacy  of  a  refined  mind, 
he  perceived  that  this  might  seem  to  them  to  be 
gratuitous  interference,  self-assertive  importance,  an 
assumption  of  superiority  which  belittled  their  present 
Christian  status ;  so  he  puts  them  and  himself  into 
a  right  position  by  the  exercise  of  his  characteristic 
courtesy.  "  I  long  to  see  you,"  he  writes,  "  that  I  may 
impart  unto  you  some  spiritual  gift,  to  the  end  ye 
may  be  established "  ;  but,  lest  this  should  cast  any 
slight  on  their  present  Christian  attainments,  he  adds, 
as  if  by  way  of  self-correction,  "  that  is,  that  I  may 
be  comforted  together  with  you  by  the  mutual  faith 
both  of  you  and  me."  ^  He  associates  himself  with 
them  as  receiving  a  share  of  the  blessing  accruing  from 
his  visit,  and  thus  blunts  the  edge  of  apparent 
patronage. 

Then  observe  how  he  again  corrects  a  false  impression 
which  his  words  might  leave  behind  them.  He  had 
long  nursed  the  hope  of  visiting  Rome  that  he  "  might 
have  some  fruit  among  you  also,  even  as  among  other 
Gentiles."^  The  Roman  Gentiles  might  think  that 
he  was  coming  among  them  for  self-glory  or  self- 
advantage  ;  but  he  diverts  their  thoughts  into  a  different 
channel  by  giving  them  a  new  view  of  his  ministry, 
as  a  debt  to  Christ  for  favours  received — a  debt  which 
he  holds  himself  under  solemn  obligation  to  discharge 
by  sharing  these  favours  with  others,  and  especially 
the  Gentiles  :  "  I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and 
to    the    Barbarians ;    both   to    the    wise,    and    to    the 

'  Rom.  i.  9-15.  '  Ibid.  11,  12.  '  Ibid.  i.  13. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  127 

unwise."^  Could  he  have  commended  his  ministry 
with  more  delicacy  to  the  favour  of  the  Romans  ? 

At  the  best  it  is  but  a  thankless  task  to  point  out 
the  faults  and  shortcomings  of  others,  and  when  it 
must  be  done  nothing  but  Christian  courtesy  can 
prevent  us  from  making  enemies  of  friends  in  the  doing 
of  it.  Paul  is  never  forgetful  of  increasing  the  social 
credit  by  praising  virtue  before  detracting  from  it  by 
condemning  vice.  He  has  always  the  delicate  sense 
of  proportion  which  is  the  quality  of  the  Christian  mind. 
He  has  none  of  the  brutal  bluntness  of  the  candid  friend, 
who  makes  it  a  cardinal  virtue  to  speak  his  mind.  We 
are  not  always  obliged  to  say  what  we  think  of  others, 
though  we  are  never  obliged  to  say  what  we  do  not  think. 
Social  life  would  degenerate  into  savagery  if  we  were 
always  expressing  our  candid  opinions  of  one  another. 
A  large  part  of  our  duty  in  social  intercourse  consists 
in  not  saying  what  we  think.  We  all  feel  the  need 
of  people  who  have  that  amiable  hypocrisy  which 
takes  no  notice  of  many  of  our  failings,  but  labours 
to  appreciate  our  struggling  virtues.  Some  of  us  know 
as  well  as,  and  better  than,  they  how  faulty  we  are  ;  but 
if  they  credit  us  with  some  good,  we  try  to  live  up  to 
our  reputation,  and  all  the  more  when  we  know  how 
little  it  is  deserved.  If  we  have  to  open  up  a  wound 
in  the  heart  of  a  friend,  let  us  see  that  we  bring  with 
us  the  oil  as  well  as  the  knife.  Candid  friends  often 
wear  the  mask  of  a  friend  to  conceal  the  heart  of  an 
enemy.  They  have  always  high  motives  for  their 
justification.  It  is  always  for  our  good — and  their 
glory. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  example  of  Christian 
*  Rom.  i  14. 


128    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

courtesy  in  the  difficult  art  of  faultfinding  than  Paul's 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  The  Corinthian  Church 
had  developed  many  ugly  characteristics  which  marred 
the  fine  promise  of  their  faith  and  usefulness.  Paul  had 
to  direct  attention  to  these.  He  begins  with  a  frank 
appreciation  of  all  that  is  good  in  the  Corinthian 
converts.^  He  tells  them  that  he  is  always  thanking 
God  for  the  grace  which  is  given  them,  for  they  are 
enriched  in  everything  by  Christ — in  all  utterance  and 
in  all  knowledge  :  he  is  silent  of  their  love.  He 
rejoices  that  the  testimony  of  Christ  is  confirmed  in 
them,  so  that  they  "  come  behind  in  no  gift " ;  and, 
spite  of  all  their  shortcomings,  expresses  the  belief  that, 
being  called  into  the  fellowship  of  God's  Son,  they 
shall  be  "  blameless  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  It  is  only  after  this  friendly  beginning  that 
he  proceeds  to  rehearse  the  sad  tale  of  their  failings. 

We  know  what  regret  and  anxiety  and  pain  it  cost 
Paul  to  enter  into  this  unwelcome  correspondence  ;  how 
he  did  violence  to  his  own  feelings  and  suppressed  his 
inclinations.  But  in  letting  out  an  ugly  humour  we 
are  not  prepared  to  operate  unless  we  are  prepared  to 
suffer  in  the  operation  as  much  as  the  patient.  We 
must  quote  a  few  sentences  from  the  Second  Epistle 
in  order  to  understand  how  much  Paul  suffered.  "  If  I 
make  you  sorry,  who  is  he  then  that  maketh  me  glad, 
but  the  same  which  is  made  sorry  by  me  ?  And  1 
wrote  this  same  unto  you,  lest,  when  I  came,  I  should 
have  sorrow  from  them  of  whom  I  ought  to  rejoice ; 
having  confidence  in  you  all,  that  my  joy  is  the  joy  of 
you  all.  For  out  of  much  affliction  and  anguish  of 
heart  I  wrote  unto  you  with  many  tears  ;  not  that  ye 
'  I  Cor.  i.  4-9. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  129 

should  be  grieved,  but  that  ye  might  know  the  love 
which  I  have  more  abundantly  unto  you."  ^  "  For 
though  I  made  you  sorry  with  a  letter,  I  do  not  repent, 
though  I  did  repent."  ^  We  have  only  to  read  the 
letters  themselves  to  understand  how  the  salt  of  courtesy 
judiciously  intermixed  with  unpalatable  truth  prevented 
the  correspondence  from  becoming  offensive  to  the 
Corinthian  mind. 

As  an  example  of  Paul's  courtesy  before  his  superiors 
in  social  rank,  we  may  select  his  appearance  before 
Agrippa.  He  is  not  to  be  outstripped  by  Festus,  who 
addresses  Agrippa  as  King,  though  he  was  not  much 
more  than  a  king  in  name,  Paul  remembers  the  king 
and  forgets  the  man,  compliments  Agrippa  on  his  know- 
ledge as  being  "  expert  in  all  customs  and  questions 
which  are  among  the  Jews,"  ^  and  considers  himself 
fortunate  in  pleading  before  one  who  had  such  under- 
standing of  the  circumstances  of  his  case.  He  then 
tells  the  stirring  story  of  his  conversion,  of  his  labours, 
and  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  which  he  participates, 
Festus  accuses  him  of  madness,  but  Paul  turns  to 
Agrippa  with  a  benignant  courtesy,  which  almost  won 
the  king  :  "  The  king  knoweth  of  these  things,  before 
whom  also  I  speak  freely."  *  "  King  Agrippa,  believest 
thou  the  prophets  ?  "  But  at  once  he  credits  his  royal 
listener  with  a  faith  which  his  question  seems  to  doubt  : 
"  I  know  that  thou  believest  "  ® ;  and,  having  elicited  the 
sneer  that  Paul  was  trying  to  make  a  Christian  of  him 
on  very  slender  grounds,  the  Apostle  presses  home 
the  courteous  and  delicate  appeal,  not  only  to  the  king, 
as  if  he  needed  it  more  than  others,  but  to  the  whole 

'  2  Cor.  ii.  2-4.  -  Ibid.  vii.  8.  ^  Acts  xxvi.  3. 

*  Ibid.  26.  '  Ibid.  27. 

9 


I30    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Court — a  touch  of  delicacy  which  took  off  the  personaUty 
of  the  reference  :  *'  I  would  to  God,  that  not  only  thou, 
but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  were  both  almost, 
and  altogether  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds." ' 
But  Paul  had  learned  this  courtesy  in  the  Court  of 
another  King. 

It  is  not  easy  to  write  to  others  on  the  subject  of 
their  liberality,  especially  on  liberality  which  has  been 
neglected.  Yet  with  what  delicacy  Paul  approaches 
the  Corinthians  regarding  their  arrears  of  benevolence ! 
They  had  not  been  contributing  as  they  ought  to 
the  support  of  the  poorer  brethren.  He  tells  them 
how  he  had  been  boasting  of  their  liberality  to 
those  of  Macedonia,  proud  of  their  grace  of  giving. 
Their  zeal  had  already  "  provoked  very  many "  to 
generosity  ;  but  he  would  not  find  them  unprepared 
when  they  of  Macedonia  came  with  him  to  visit 
them,  lest  "  we  (that  we  say  not,  ye)  should  be 
ashamed  in  this  same  confident  boasting."*  The 
tenderest  susceptibilities  could  scarcely  have  been 
wounded  by  such  a  delicate  reference  to  money. 

Take  another  reference  to  money — to  the  receiving 
of  a  gift.  It  often  taxes  the  recipient's  courtesy  to 
acknowledge  and  thank  without  an  excess  of  dignity, 
without  a  suspicion  of  meanness,  without  an  overdoing 
of  gratitude.  Paul  had  been  in  want  and  affliction, 
but  a  gift  comes  from  his  old  friends  in  Philippi.  He 
accepts  it  with  a  fine  measure  of  courtesy,^  rejoicing 
that  his  suspicion  of  being  forgotten  by  them  is  dispelled, 
and  that  "at  the  last"  their  care  of  him  "  hath  flourished 
again."  But  they  are  not  to  think  that  he  desired  a 
gift,  but  he  desired  "  fruit  that  may  abound  to  your 
'  Acts  xxvi.  29.  '  2  Cor.  ix.  1-4.  '  Phil.  iv.   10-19. 


ON   CHRISTIAN    COURTESY  131 

account "  ;  for  in  all  generosity  a  reversion  of  interest 
falls  to  the  giver.  Nor  would  he  wound  their  feelings 
by  permitting  them  to  imagine  that  he  had  hard 
thoughts  of  them  for  apparently  forgetting  him.  He 
has  their  apology  ready  :  "  Ye  were  also  careful,  but 
ye  lacked  opportunity."  Then  he  recounts  their  early 
liberality  at  a  time  when  others  never  thought  of 
his  needs,  and  regards  their  present  gift  to  him  as  "  a 
sacrifice,  acceptable,  wellpleasing  to  God,"  and  promises 
that  "my  God  shall  supply  all  your  need  according 
to  His  riches  in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus."  The  subject 
of  benevolence,  of  gifts,  is  thus  lifted  into  a  religious 
atmosphere,  which  fuses  the  interests  of  giver  and 
receiver  and  is  too  pure  to  allow  any  thoughts  of 
patronage  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  dependence  on  the 
other. 

But  the  courtesy  of  a  man  shows  itself  best  in  the 
small  delicacies  of  speech — omissions,  suppressions, 
additions,  turns  and  refinements  of  phrases,  when 
there  is  no  special  occasion  demanding  carefully 
measured  language.  Little  off-hand  courtesies  and 
compliments  indicate  the  good  breeding  of  a  man. 
We  see  this  feature  of  Paul's  courtesy  especially  in 
the  salutations  of  his  letters.  Note,  for  instance,  how 
he  begins  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians :  "  Paul  and 
Timotheus,  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  all  the 
saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi."  ^  How 
delicately  the  veteran  honours  Timothy,  his  young 
disciple,  by  bracketing  his  name  with  his  own  !  How 
quietly  he  suppresses  his  usual  and  higher  title  of 
Apostle,  which  Timothy  could  not  share !  What  an 
encouragement  to  a  youth  to  be  placed  side  by  side 
'  Phil.  i.  I. 


132     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

on  an  equality  with  one  who  was  honoured  of  all  the 
churches ! 

Similarly  he  begins  both  his  Epistles  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians.  There  he  brackets  the  names  of  Silas  and 
Timothy  with  his  own.  These  two,  along  with  himself, 
had  been  instrumental  in  founding  the  Church  by  their 
labours,  and,  as  they  had  shared  the  work,  Paul  pays 
them  the  compliment  of  associating  them  with  himself 
in  his  greetings  and  rejoicings  when  writing  to  the 
converts  in  Thessalonica.* 

To  take  another  instance,  let  us  look  at  the  little 
private  gallery  of  portraits  of  his  friends  to  be  found 
at  the  close  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.'*  Here 
is  Phoebe,  who  may  have  borne  this  letter  to  its 
destination,  "  our  sister,  a  servant  of  the  Church,"  a 
woman  of  means  who  had  devoted  herself  and  her 
wealth  to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  "  a  succourer  of 
many,  and  of  myself  also."  Here  are  Aquila  and 
Priscilla — no:  "  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  my  helpers  in 
Christ  Jesus,"  tent-makers  like  himself,  who  had  plied 
their  calling  to  support  him.  This  honoured  pair  had 
put  their  necks  under  the  yoke  to  help  him  in  bearing 
the  burdens  of  his  life.  How  delicately  he  characterises 
Epaenetus  as  "  my  well-beloved,"  "  the  first-fruits  of 
Achaia  unto  Christ";  and  Amplias  "my  beloved  in 
the  Lord  "  ;  and  Urbane  "  our  helper  in  Christ "  ;  and 
Stachys  "  my  beloved  "  ;  and  Apelles,  who  had  passed 
his  probation,  and  was  now  "  approved  in  Christ " ; 
and  Tryphena  and  Tryphosa,  whose  names  suggest 
two  ladies  who  live  luxuriously,  but  who  in  Christ 
have  belied  their  names,  for  they  "labour  in  the  Lord."^ 

*  I  Thess.  i.   l :  cf.  iii.  6,  8.  *  Rom.  xvi. 

'  Vide  Godet's  Romans,  in  toco. 


ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  133 

He  does  not  forget  the  old  Christian  lady,  Persis,  whose 
working  days  seem  to  be  past,  but  whose  works  remain 
in  the  Apostle's  grateful  memory — "  the  " — not  my,  as 
in  the  case  of  his  male  friends — "  the  beloved  Persis, 
who  laboured  much  in  the  Lord " ;  and,  without 
enumerating  others  of  them,  "  Rufus  chosen  in  the 
Lord,  and  his  mother  and  mine!'  Rufus,  probably 
the  son  of  Simon  who  carried  the  cross  of  the  Master 
on  the  road  to  Calvary,  in  whose  house  in  all  likelihood 
Paul  stayed  when  a  student  in  Jerusalem.^  Tenderly 
he  remembers  how  the  mother  of  Rufus  mothered 
him  as  her  own  son  when  a  strange  youth  in  a  strange 
city !  These  were  all  humble  folk,  whose  names  he 
enshrined  in  this  first  calendar  of  the  saints  of  the 
Church.  What  pleasure  and  encouragement  they  must 
have  derived  from  finding  themselves  so  thoughtfully 
remembered  and  so  happily  characterised  by  one  who 
was  the  greatest  figure  in  the  Church  !  Paul  was  not 
too  great  to  show  courtesy  to  the  obscure. 

But  the  finest  example  of  Paul's  courtesy  is  the 
Epistle  to  Philemon,  the  only  one  of  Paul's  personal  and 
private  letters  which  has  been  preserved.  The  letter 
displays  the  grace  of  his  mind  as  well  as  of  his  pen — 
so  nimble  in  its  movements,  so  subtle  in  its  suggestive- 
ness,  so  refined  in  its  feeling,  so  persuasive  in  its  pleading. 
He  is  begging  a  favour  for  a  poor,  runaway,  thievish 
slave ;  an  insignificant  subject  perhaps,  but  Paul  lovingly 
lavishes  upon  it  all  the  wealth  of  his  grace  of  mind  and 
heart,  just  as  a  great  master  may  leave  the  heroic  marble 
to  devote  his  genius  to  the  carving  of  a  cameo.  From 
this  brief  Epistle  we  may  learn  the  art  of  Christian 
letter-writing. 

'  Vide  Godet's  Romans,  in  loco. 


134    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

He  enters  upon  the  subject  by  saying  that  he  might 
"  enjoin  "  Philemon  to  grant  this  favour,  yet  he  prefers 
to  put  it  thus :  "  for  love's  sake  I  rather  beseech." 
Authority  is  sometimes  best  exercised  by  foregoing  it. 
And  for  whom  does  he  plead  ? — a  slave,  a  runaway, 
a  thief?  No.  Courtesy  forbids  such  epithets:  "I  be- 
seech thee  for  my  child,  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my 
bonds,  Onesimus."  Onesimus  !  Paul  lets  his  mind  play 
upon  the  word.  Onesimus — "  helpful,"  "  profitable." 
He  had  belied  his  name ;  but  now,  since  Paul  laid 
hold  of  him,  he  has  merited  it  again  :  "  Onesimus,"  the 
"  profitable,"  "  who  was  aforetime  unprofitable  to  thee, 
but  now  profitable  to  thee  and  me."  This  unprofitable 
servant  Paul  now  sends  back,  though  he  would  fain 
keep  him,  for  he  is  dear  to  him  as  his  "  very  heart." 
But  the  Apostle  would  not  serve  himself  with  another 
man's  property  without  consent  ;  so  he  parts  with  him. 
But,  in  sending  him  back,  he  suggests  to  Philemon 
a  higher  view  of  the  slave's  escapade  in  going  away  : 
"  Perhaps  he  was  therefore  parted  from  thee  for  a 
season  that  thou  shouldest  have  him  for  ever  ;  no  longer 
as  a  servant,  but  more  than  a  servant,  a  brother  beloved, 
specially  to  me,  but  how  much  rather  to  thee,  both  in 
the  flesh  and  in  the  Lord."  Onesimus,  however,  had 
gone  away  in  disgrace  with  some  of  his  master's  property. 
Paul  identifies  himself  with  his  convert,  and  promises 
to  make  good  the  deficiency,  writing  out,  not  without 
a  touch  of  humour — for  Philemon  does  not  need  his 
money — a  sort  of  promissory  note  :  "  I  Paul  have  written 
it  with  mine  own  hand  :  I  will  repay  it."  But,  having 
written  this,  he  ventures  with  gentle  raillery  to  recall 
Philemon's  own  indebtedness  to  the  writer — a  debt  not 
of  money,  but  of   life  :  "  Albeit    1  do  not  say  to  thee 


ON   CHRISTIAN   COURTESY  135 

how  thou  owest  to  me  thine  own  self  besides."  Philemon 
had  gained  more  by  Paul  than  he  had  lost  by  Onesimus. 
The  accounts  being  thus  squared,  and  more  than  squared, 
from  the  writer's  point  of  view,  Paul  hints  that,  as 
Philemon  owes  him  so  much,  he  might  do  even  more 
for  Onesimus  than  take  him  back  :  "  Having  confidence 
in  thy  obedience  I  wrote  unto  thee,  knowing  that  thou 
wilt  also  do  more  than  I  say."  The  whole  letter  is  a 
marvel  of  grace  and  tenderness,  of  humour  and  earnest- 
ness, of  dignity  and  condescension,  of  refinement  and 
strength,  such  as  only  could  be  written  by  one  in  whose 
nature  these  same  qualities  were  so  abundant  as  to 
overflow  without  strain  or  effort  on  what  might  seem  to 
be  only  a  trivial  occasion. 


aV  SOME  ELEMENTS  OF  THE   CHRISTIAN 
TEMPER 


137 


"  In  religion,  as  in  other  things,  few  things  command  the  respect  of 
the  world  like  courage." — Austin  Phelps. 

"  There  cannot  be  a  more  humble  soul  than  a  believer  :  it  is  no  pride 
for  a  drowning  man  to  catch  hold  of  a  rock." — Samuel  Rutherford. 

"The  bosom  of  Christ  is  the  grave,  the  only  grave,  of  religious 
acrimony ;  we  learn  secrets  there  which  render  it  possible  for  us  to  be 
of  one  heart,  if  we  may  not  yet  be  of  one  mind,  with  all  who  lean 
upon  it  with  us."— Dora  Greenwkll's  Patience  of  Hope. 

"There  is  small  chance  of  truth  at  the  goal,  when  there  is  not 
childUke  humility  at  the  starting-post." — Coleridge. 


I3« 


CHAPTER    X 

0^  SOME  ELEMENTS  OF  THE   CHRISTIAN 
TEMPER 

BY  temper  we  do  not  mean  temper  in  the  restricted 
sense  of  irascibility  or  placidity,  sourness  or 
sweetness.  We  take  the  word  in  its  larger  significance 
as  implying  the  proportion  of  parts,  the  admixture 
of  qualities,  the  blending  of  moods,  passions,  and  disposi- 
tions. A  good  temper  is  one  in  which  each  part  of  a 
man's  nature  works  in  co-operation  with,  and  subordina- 
tion to,  all  the  other  parts,  producing  that  balance  of 
judgment  and  confidence  of  manner  which  are  incidental 
to  strength  and  stability  of  character.  A  bad  temper, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  one  in  which  one  passion  strives 
with  another,  moods  are  ever  varying,  and  the  com- 
bination of  parts  is  never  certain.  The  temper  which 
becomes  us  is  thus  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  our 
passions  and  dispositions  so  as  to  produce  homogeneity 
and  constancy  of  character. 

In  the  Christian  temper,  as  illustrated  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  there  are  certain  qualities  and  dispositions  which 
are  so  balanced  by  their  complementary  qualities  and 
dispositions  as  to  satisfy  the  moral  sense,  just  as 
certain  colours  when  placed  in  juxtaposition  to  their 
complementary  colours  satisfy  the  aesthetic  sense. 
What   one   might   call    the   three   primary   colours    of 

139 


I40    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  Christian  temper  are  Humility,  Patience,  and 
Yieldingness.  But  these  three  passive  qualities  are 
balanced  by  their  complementaries  of  an  active  ten- 
dency :  Humility  by  Courage,  Patience  by  Persever- 
ance, Yieldingness  by  Pertinacity. 

These  three  pairs,  however,  are  not  opposites  which 
neutralise  each  other  ;  for  humility  has  its  opposite 
in  self-assertion,  courage  in  cowardice,  patience  in 
rashness,  perseverance  in  sloth,  yieldingness  in  ob- 
stinacy, and  pertinacity  in  indifference.  In  each  pair 
the  one  needs  the  other  to  give  it  that  completeness 
or  unity  which  comes  from  the  due  admixture  of  parts. 
Humility  needs  courage  to  save  it  from  meanness ; 
courage,  humility  to  save  it  from  bravado  :  patience 
needs  perseverance  to  save  it  from  degenerating  into 
laissez-faire ;  perseverance,  patience  to  save  it  from 
fussiness :  yieldingness,  pertinacity  to  save  it  from 
flaccidity ;  and  pertinacity,  yieldingness  to  save  it 
from  impertinence.  Temper  is  the  harmonious  blending, 
the  proper  adjustment,  of  these  complementary  qualities, 
so  that  no  one  predominates  over  the  other  to  break  the 
unity  and  peace  of  the  whole. 

In  the  cultivation  of  the  Christian  temper  Humility 
occupies  the  first  place.  It  is  a  quality  which  was 
not  included  in  the  Pagan  list  of  virtues.  To  the 
Pagan's  mind  humility  was  mean  and  unmanly,  a  nega- 
tion of  that  self-assertion  which  was  characteristic  of 
his  character.  Why  should  a  man  humble  himself? 
Why  should  heart  or  intellect  or  will  bow  down  to 
the  dust  ?  The  Pagan  did  not  see  into  those  mysterious 
vistas  of  holiness  which  open  up  to  us  in  the  character 
of  Christ.  He  had  to  strive  with  his  compeers  to 
attain  the  virtuous  ideal.     He  was  not  overawed  and 


THE   CHRISTIAN   TEMPER  141 

humbled  in  heart  by  Holiness  Incarnate.  The  Pagan 
was  proud  of  his  intellect  as  the  instrument  of  know- 
ledge. He  had  not  the  revelation  of  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ  to  teach  him  the  limits  of  the 
human  understanding,  or  to  discover  to  him  those 
realms  of  thought  which  are  forbidden  to  the  selfish 
mind  but  free  to  those  who  submit  to  the  teaching 
of  the  God  of  truth.  And  why  should  he  humble  his 
will  ?  He  might  submit  to  an  inscrutable  will  which 
was  over  him  ;  but  humility  is  not  mere  submission 
to  an  overmastering  fate.  It  is  the  reverence  that 
is  paid  by  our  will  to  a  Sovereign  Will  which  is  instinct 
with  the  purpose  and  passion  of  love. 

The  appearance  of  Jesus  upon  the  scene  changed 
all  this.  Man  measured  himself  in  holiness  of  heart, 
in  attainment  of  intellect,  in  force  of  will,  against  a  new 
standard,  which  was  infinitely  above  him,  but  not 
oppressive  in  its  infinitude,  for  it  was  an  infinitude 
which  humbled  itself  to  lift  up  man  to  its  own  level 
of  goodness,  knowledge,  and  power.  Humility  became 
the  new  attitude  of  the  human  mind  towards  a  new 
ideal,  which  won  its  reverence  and  aspiration  by  its 
own  example  of  humility. 

To  the  Apostle  Paul  this  was  the  characteristic 
note  of  the  temper  of  Christ,  and  for  that  reason 
should  be  the  distinctive  note  of  the  character  of  the 
Christian.  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also 
in  Christ  Jesus."  ^  And  what  was  that  mind?  Humility. 
Christ  stooped  lower  and  lower,  from  heaven  to  earth, 
from  sonship  to  servantship,  from  divinity  to  humanity, 
from  life  to  death,  from  the  throne  of  glory  to  the  cross 
of  shame.  And  why?  That  "in  His  name" — before 
iPiiil,  ii.  5, 


142     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

His  power  thus  expressed  in  humiliation — "  every  knee 
should  bow "  ;  that  we  might  stoop  in  humility  so  as 
to  be  lifted  up  into  His  fellowship.  Christian  humility 
has  thus  no  taint  of  subservience.  We  bow  before  One 
who  bowed  Himself  to  the  earth  in  His  charity  for  the 
souls  of  men. 

Humility  is  thus  our  restoration  to  true  sanity  ol 
mind.  When  Christ  throws  open  to  us  the  new  world 
of  revelation,  we  see  ourselves  in  a  new  and  larger 
environment,  and  remeasure  our  attainments  and 
possibilities  in  a  new  light  and  by  a  new  criterion.  The 
new  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  Christ  and  God 
alters  our  estimate  of  ourselves,  dethrones  our  pride 
and  exalts  our  humility.  It  upsets  the  fashion  of  the 
world,  which  is  accustomed  to  humble  itself  before 
the  self-asserting  pride  of  intellect,  wealth,  and  power — 
"  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles,"  who  exercise  lordship  over 
men,  and  who,  by  the  strange  irony  -of  the  world's 
humility,  are  called  "benefactors."^  It  is  a  relation 
which  creates  the  temper  of  the  renewed  mind  and 
transforms  the  whole  character  by  revealing  to  man  his 
true  value  :  "  For  I  say,  through  the  grace  given  unto 
me,  to  every  man  that  is  among  you,  not  to  think 
of  himself  more  highly  than  he  ought  to  think  ;  but 
to  think  soberly,  according  as  God  hath  dealt  to  every 
man  the  measure  of  faith."  ^ 

Humility  is  thus  essential  to  our  self-knowledge,  and 
becomes  the  habit  of  the  mind  that  dwells  on  Christ. 
His  holiness,  whilst  it  awakens  our  aspiration,  beggars 
our  best  attainments  :  fresh  peaks  of  eternal  snow  meet 
the  eye  of  the  most  daring  climber.  With  the  increase 
of  the  circle  of  knowledge  through  revelation,  there 
'  Luke  xxii  25.  *  Rom.  xii.  3. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   TEMPER  143 

is  an  increase  in  the  circle  of  our  ignorance  which 
humbles  the  pride  of  our  intellect.  And  since  Christ 
fulfilled  the  will  of  God  by  submitting  to  it,  we  cannot 
but  be  humble,  for  the  doing  of  the  will  of  God  is 
the  ever  unfulfilled  task  of  our  life.  All  our  pride 
is  broken  at  the  cradle  and  the  cross  of  Christ  where 
He  humbled  Himself  for  man.  The  vulgar  glories 
of  wealth  and  learning  and  power  are  but  phases  of 
self-ignorance  and  self-delusion,  incidental  to  a  small 
life  in  a  small  world,  in  which  men  think  it  better  to 
possess  than  to  be.  But  no  man  can  set  up  this  glory 
of  the  world  against  the  glory  of  Christ  without 
forfeiting  his  claim  to  Christianity. 

Humility  as  a  characteristic  of  the  Christian  temper 
is  conspicuous  in  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  was  a  man 
of  strong  passions,  eager  impetuosity,  restless  intellect, 
iron  will ;  yet,  after  the  vision  on  the  road  to  Damascus, 
these  were  all  so  well  ordered  and  balanced  and  blended 
as  to  produce  a  well-tempered  character,  in  which  each 
quality  was  modified  and  strengthened  by  the  others. 
His  humility  gave  him  such  self-knowledge  that  pride 
was  impossible.  "  I  know  nothing  by  myself."  ^ 
"  Though  I  preach  the  Gospel,  I  have  nothing  to  glory 
Qf"2  "Though  I  be  free  from  all  men,  yet  have  I 
made  myself  servant  unto  all."  ^  "I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me."^  "  As  having 
nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things."  ®  "I  live  ;  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."^  All  self-assertion 
vanished  that  Christ  might  assert  Himself  in  everything. 

And  yet,  combined  with  this  humility  there  was 
the  most  undaunted  courage.     The  strong  qualities  of 

'  I  Cor.  iv.  4.  *  Ibid.  ix.  16.  ^  Ibid.  19. 

*  Phil.  iv.  13.  *  2  Cor.  vi.  10.  «  Gal.  ii.  20. 


144     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

his  original  nature  were  harnessed  to  new  motives 
and  driven  by  higher  powers.  Luke  describes  Saul,  the 
natural  man,  as  "  breathing  out  threatenings  and 
slaughter"  ^  ;  and  Paul  remembers  himself  as  compelling 
to  blaspheme,  "  exceedingly  mad,"  impetuously  "  per- 
secuting even  unto  strange  cities."  ^  But,  after  his 
conversion,  all  this  untamed  strength  and  wild  self- 
assertion  keep  pace  and  peace  with  humility.  Some- 
times we  see  the  old  nature  flashing  forth,  like  fire 
from  a  volcano  which  smoulders  still  in  subterranean 
depths,  as  when  he  turned  upon  the  unreasonable 
Ananias,  the  priest,  and  cried,  "  God  shall  smite  thee, 
thou  whited  wall !  "  ^ ;  or  when  he  "  sprang  forth  among 
the  multitude"  at  Lystra  at  the  moment  the  priest 
of  Jupiter  and  his  followers  threatened  to  violate  the 
Apostle's  humility  by  offering  sacrifice  to  him  as  a  God. 
But,  habitually,  his  temper  is  that  of  calmness,  of  strength 
to  bear  and  dare  all  things,  of  unwearied  energy  and 
tenderness  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel — the  courage 
that  faces  the  storm  with  inner  quietude,  and  meets 
discouragement  and  danger  with  unbroken  spirit.  We 
have  only  to  think  of  his  temper  and  bearing  in  the 
wild  tumult  of  the  Ephesian  mob,  in  the  murderous 
throng  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  shipwreck  at  Melita,  in 
his  incessant  and  often  thankless  journeyings,  to 
approve  him  as  a  man  of  courage  :  a  soldier,  who  could 
make  and  arm  soldiers,  fitting  on  them  the  whole 
armour  of  God  which  he  himself  had  worn,  and  adorned 
in  the  wearing — a  soldier,  who  at  the  end  of  the  battle, 
having  never  fought  for  his  own  hand,  could  write  with 
the  humility  of  an  unexhausted  courage :  "  I  am 
already  being  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
•  Acts  ix.  I.  *  Ibid.  xxvi.  il.  *  Ibid,  xxiii.  3. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   TEMPER  145 

is  come.     I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  ^ 

In  the  Christian  temper  the  next  two  ingredients 
are  Patience  and  Perseverance.  Patience  waits  in  faith  ; 
perseverance  works  in  faith.  Patience  needs  persever- 
ance lest  she  should  weary  in  hope  ;  and  perseverance 
needs  patience  lest  she  should  weary  in  well-doing. 

These  two  qualities  of  the  Christian  temper  form 
a  divine  combination.  God  is  patient  with  the  wrong- 
doer. He  waits,  and  yet  He  works.  He  does  not 
hastily  smite  the  wicked.  "  He  maketh  His  sun  to  rise 
on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  on  the  unjust " — blessed  providential  preludes 
of  patience  leading  up  to  more  blessed  overtures  of 
grace  in  the  sending  of  His  Son  to  die  for  men  that 
He  might  win  souls,  which  he  would  not  compel  into 
surrender  and  obedience. 

Christ  is  not  impatient,  and  yet  He  perseveres.  He 
bears  long,  and  forbears  long.  He  never  forces  a 
victory :  He  waits  to  win.  He  speaks  and  is  done. 
He  sows  the  seed  and  passes  on,  not  looking  back 
anxiously  for  signs  of  growth,  for  He  "  must  walk 
to-day,  and  to-morrow,  and  the  day  following."  ^  He 
lets  the  seed  lie,  believing  in  the  potency  of  seed  and 
soil.  He  has  faith  in  truth  and  man,  and  is  impatient 
with  neither.  The  fisher  of  men  must  always  have 
patience  and  must  always  persevere  :  he  must  let  out 
line  and  take  in  line,  if  he  would  catch  men.  He  will 
let  the  wayward  be  more  wayward,  and  still  a  little 
longer  wayward,  till  they  be  wearied  of  their  wayward- 
ness ;  but  he  himself  must  never  weary  of  their  way- 
wardness. If  one  will  smite  thee  on  the  right  cheek, 
'  2  Tim.  iv.  6,  7,  R.V.  *  Luke  xiii.  32,  33. 

10 


146    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

make  no  impatient  remonstrance ;  let  him  go  a  little 
farther  :  turn  to  him  thy  left  also.  Will  he  take  thy 
coat  ?  Feed  his  greed  to  satiety  by  your  generosity  : 
give  him  "  thy  cloke  also."  Will  he  compel  thee  to  go 
a  mile  ?  Shame  his  impatience  by  your  patience  : 
go  twain. ^  Give  him  line  :  play  out  till  he  wearies, 
but  do  not  thou  weary.  Patience  waits  :  patient 
perseverance  wins.  "  The  servant  of  the  Lord  must 
not  strive  ;  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to  teach, 
patient,  in  meekness  instructing  [not  obstructing]  those 
that  oppose  themselves."  ^ 

Paul  himself  exemplified  the  qualities  which  he 
commended.  He  waited  before  he  worked.  In 
Arabia — probably  in  the  solitudes  of  Sinai,  where 
Moses  and  Elijah  drank  in  their  inspiration — he 
lingered  awhile  after  his  conversion,  readjusting  in  the 
silence  the  dislocated  elements  of  his  old  nature.  At 
Tarsus  again  he  waited,  curbing  his  eager  spirit,  till 
he  was  summoned  to  work  by  Barnabas.^  Then  he 
began  his  untiring  ministry  of  preaching  and  praying, 
of  peril  and  persecution,  in  which  he  persevered  till 
the  end. 

He  carries  the  burden  of  the  churches  patiently 
upon  his  heart,  nursing  and  mothering  them  with  self- 
sacrificing  devotion.  To  the  Galatians  he  writes  : 
"  My  little  children,  of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again 
until  Christ  be  formed  in  you."  *  To  the  Thessalonians  : 
"  We  were  gentle  among  you,  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth 
her  children."*  When  men  are  impatient  with  him, 
and  providence  itself  seems  to  conspire  to  frustrate 
his  plans,  he  never  loses  the  patience  of  hope  and  the 

1  Matt.  V.  39-41.  ^  2  Tim.  ii.  24,  25.  '  Acts  xi.  25,  26. 

*  Gal.  iv.  19.  '  I  Thess.  ii.  7. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   TEMPER  147 

perseverance  of  faith.     He  is  always  at  the  centres  of 

activity — the  great  cities,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  Athens, 
Rome,  "  witnessing  both  to  small  and  great."  ^  He 
does  not  forget  his  calling  even  when  being  tried  as 
a  culprit  before  Felix  and  Festus  and  Agrippa  ;  pro- 
secutes his  mission  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  and  the 
shipwreck  ;  and  still  remains  a  minister  of  peace  when 
in  prison  and  in  bonds.  "  Self-devotion  at  particular 
moments  and  for  some  national  cause  had  often  been 
seen  before ;  but  a  self-devotion  involving  sacrifices 
like  those  here  described  (2  Cor.  xi.),  and  extending 
through  a  period  of  at  least  fourteen  years,  and  in 
behalf  of  no  local  or  family  interest,  but  for  the  interest 
of  mankind  at  large,  was  up  to  this  time  a  thing 
unknown.  .  .  .  Paul  did  all  this,  and  was  the  first 
who  did  it."  2 

The  third  pair  of  complementary  qualities  which 
go  to  the  formation  of  the  Christian  temper  are 
Yieldingness  and  Pertinacity.  Yieldingness  is  that 
quality  of  mind  which  enables  us  to  forbear  enforcing 
our  own  desires  or  opinions  upon  others  in  matters 
of  secondary  importance  where  conscience  is  not 
involved.  It  is  the  opposite  of  obstinacy,  which  is 
"  the  will  asserting  itself  without  being  able  to  justify 
itself"  The  stiff,  contentious,  unbending  spirit,  like  a 
hard-wooded  tree,  may  break,  or  be  torn  from  the 
earth,  before  the  storm  ;  but  the  yielding  spirit,  like  a 
supple  scion  of  the  forest,  bends,  and  rises  again  when 
the  hurricane  is  past,  pertinaciously  holding  by  the  soil 
of  great  principles.  We  see  these  qualities  at  their 
highest  in  Jesus,  who  yielded  himself  to  ignominy  and 

^  Acts  xxvi.  22. 

*  Dean  Stanley,   quoted   in   Howson's  Character  of  St.  Paul. 


148     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

scorn  and  derision,  never  seeking  to  escape,  silently 
enduring  all  without  contention  or  remonstrance,  as 
if  the  wrath  of  man  were  ordered  by  the  loving 
Father  ;  whilst  at  the  same  time  He  pertinaciously 
held  to  His  ministry  of  love,  "obedient  unto  death" 
on   the   cross. 

In  a  lesser  degree  the  same  qualities  reappear  in  Paul. 
One  of  the  maxims  of  his  life  had  been  hammered 
out  of  his  own  experience  :  "  Let  your  moderation 
[yieldingness]  be  known  unto  all  men."  ^  Yield  in  small 
things  in  order  to  keep  hold  of  the  great.  He  never 
unduly  asserted  himself  so  as  to  cause  opposition  to 
the  cause  he  had  at  heart.  The  cause  demanded  self- 
sacrifice.  "  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I 
might  by  all  means  save  some."  ^  His  pliability  was 
not  the  compliance  which  takes  the  easy  way  out  of 
danger  and  difficulty  :  it  had  a  purpose,  to  which  he 
persistently  held — "to  save  some,"  not  to  please  any. 
Self-pleasing  or  men-pleasing  was  not  in  his  thoughts. 
"  Do  I  seek  to  please  men  ?  for  if  I  yet  pleased  men,  I 
should  not  be  the  servant  of  Christ."  '  "  With  me  it 
is  a  very  small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you, 
or  of  man's  judgment  :  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own 
self."*  He  was  willing  to  bow  his  head  before  op- 
position and  contumely,  bearing  what  he  would  not 
fight  against  or  escape ;  but  when  a  course  of  action 
was  resolved  upon,  or  a  great  principle  was  at  stake, 
every  root  and  fibre  of  his  being  held  pertinaciously  to 
it  as  for  life  itself. 

We  may  illustrate  this  by  one  or  two  examples. 
Take  first  his  fateful  journey  to  Jerusalem,  at  each 
stage  of  which  he  is  tempted  to  diverge  from  the  path 

'  Phil.  iv.  5,       *  I  Cor.  ix.  22.        ^  Gal.  i.  10.        *  i  Cor.  iv.  3. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   TEMPER  149 

which  God  seemed  to  have  chosen  for  him.  It  was  at 
Ephesus  that  he  set  his  face  like  a  flint  towards 
Jerusalem.  "  Now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit 
unto  Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the  things  that  shall 
befall  me  there  ;  save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth 
in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide 
me.  But  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count 
I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my 
course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry,  which  I  have  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus."  ^  At  Tyre  the  disciples  try 
to  dissuade  him,  but  in  vain.  The  inner  daimon  urges 
him  on  :  to  it,  and  not  to  them,  he  yields.  At  Cresarea 
Agabus  bound  his  hands  and  feet  with  Paul's  girdle, 
and  cried  out,  "  So  shall  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  bind 
the  man  that  owneth  this  girdle  "  ;  ^  and  again  Luke  and 
the  disciples  tried  to  dissuade  him  till  their  'weeping 
nearly  broke  his  heart.  But  to  Jerusalem  he  went,  and, 
by  his  resoluteness  in  yielding  to  the  leadings  of  the 
Spirit,  Jerusalem  became  the  gate  through  which  he 
passed  to  Rome,  where  he  had  longed  to  exercise 
his  ministry.  Looking  back  upon  the  events  and 
issues  of  that  journey,  he  could  write  from  Rome,  "  I 
would  ye  should  understand,  brethren,  that  the  things 
which  happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto 
the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel."^ 

Take  another  instance.  For  the  sake  of  the  Jews 
in  Lystra  and  Iconium,  he  yielded  to  have  Timothy  cir- 
cumcised,^ lest,  through  their  knowledge  that  Timothy's 
father  was  a  Greek,  the  ministry  of  his  young  disciple 
might  be  hindered.  He  was  willing  to  become  a  Jew 
to  the  Jews  to  win  the  Jews :  for  to  Paul  neither 
circumcision  availed  anything  nor  uncircumcision.  Both 
^  Acts  XX  22-24.      *  Ibid.  xxi.  1-13.       *  Phil.  i.  12.       *■  Acts  xvi.  3. 


150    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

were  matters  of  indifference  in  themselves.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  relation  to  other  things  each 
might  become  a  matter  of  primary  importance  involving 
great  principles.  Hence  Paul  declined  to  have  Titus 
circumcised,^  when  the  demand  was  made  as  of 
necessity.  To  accede  to  the  request,  as  if  circumcision 
availed  anything,  and  were  an  indispensable  rite  of  the 
Church,  was  to  imperil  the  great  principle  for  which 
he  had  fought — the  liberty  of  the  Gentiles  to  enter  the 
Church  of  Christ  without  passing  through  the  temple 
gates  of  Judaism.  To  those  who  demanded  this  of 
Titus,  Paul  "  gave  place  by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an 
hour." 

It  is  when  we  thus  separate  and  examine  the  several 
elements  of  the  Christian  temper,  as  manifested  by 
Paul,  that  we  understand  the  harmonious  combination 
of  gentleness  and  strength,  of  pliancy  and  firmness,  of 
tenderness  and  boldness,  which  is  displayed  in  his 
natureu.  We  might  compare  the  Christian  character 
to  a  cable  with  three  strands  :  each  strand  composed  of 
two  minor  strands  which  are  counterparts  of  each  other 
— humility  and  courage,  patience  and  perseverance, 
yieldingness  and  pertinacity.  When  these  three  pairs 
are  intertwined  the  whole  will  endure  the  strain  of 
provocation,  persecution,  temptation,  tribulation,  and 
discouragement  without  breaking. 

*  Gal,  ii.  1-6. 


ON  THE  MYSTERY  OF  AFFLICTION 


"She  wanted— what  some  people  want  throughout  life — a  grief  that 
should  deeply  touch  her,  and  thus  humanise  her  and  make  her  capable  of 
sympathy." — Hawthorne's  Scarlet  Letter. 

"  Sorrow  is  tlie  tool  with  which  God  finishes  the  statue,  and  animates 
it  with  its  beautiful  expression.  It  is  sad  for  us  when  we  take  it  into 
our  own  hands." — Faber's  The  Foot  of  the  Cross. 

"  The  reason  we  are  made,  or  seem  as  if  we  were  made,  for  pain,  is 
that  we  are  made  for  love  ;  the  predominance  of  sacrifice  is  a  sign  and 
proof  upon  how  good  a  plan  the  world  was  form&d  ;  upon  how  high 
a  type  of  bliss.  Our  feeling  it  as  pain  proves  something  wanting  in 
ourselves." — James  Hinton's  Mystery  of  Fain. 


153 


CHAPTER    XI 
ON  THE  MYSTERY  OF  AFFLICTION 

THE  existence  of  suffering  and  sorrow  and  mis- 
fortune in  the  world  has  always  been  a  source 
of  wonder  and  awe  to  man,  and  sometimes  the  attempt 
to  reconcile  these  evils  with  the  beneficence  of  God  has 
given  rise  to  dumb  doubt  or  to  wild  but  futile  expostula- 
tion. Nature  in  her  savage  moods  is  heartless  :  the 
storm,  the  lightning,  the  flood,  the  avalanche  show  no 
pity  for  mortal  weakness  or  woe.  Providence  often 
seems  indifferent  to  man's  virtue  or  vice  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  her  favours  and  her  ills.  "  The  upright  man  is 
laughed  to  scorn,"  whilst  "  the  tabernacles  of  robbers 
prosper,  and  they  that  provoke  God  are  secure."  ^ 
Suffering  comes  to  all  alike,  and  often  the  sorrows  of 
life  press  most  heavily  upon  the  finest  spirits.  It  has 
been  felt  by  many  that  the  moral  government  of  the 
world  is  an  outrage  on  the  moral  sense  of  man,  and  that 
it  is  hard  to  find  apology  or  explanation.  To  many 
ears  God  is  silent. 

In  all  ages   there   have  been   rebellious  spirits,  who 

have  ventured,   in    view  of  such    mysterious    facts,   to 

dispute   with  God.     Job   and    some   of    the    psalmists 

staggered    and    stumbled    under  the  oppressiveness    of 

*  Job  xii.  4,  6. 

153 


154     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

this  perpetual  riddle  of  life.  The  Stoics  accepted  the 
situation,  answered  silence  by  silence,  schooled  them- 
selves into  apparent  indifference,  and  faced  the  troubles 
which  they  could  not  avert.  In  our  own  day  the 
problem  is  still  as  keenly  felt,  and  those  who  leave 
Christ  out  of  account  find  in  the  apparent  disorder  of 
the  world  their  main  argument  for  the  doubt  or  denial 
of  the  almightiness  and  benevolence  of  God  and  even  of 
His  existence. 

The  sad  facts  of  human  experience  create  no 
perplexity  in  the  mind  of  Christ.  He  sees  the  miseries 
and  misfortunes  of  men  with  open  eye.  He  is  full 
of  sympathy  with  the  mourning  and  the  sick.  The 
sufferings  of  men,  and  death,  the  culmination  and  end 
of  all  afflictions,  open  up  the  fountain  of  His  tears  and 
call  forth  His  supernatural  powers.  Yet  it  seems  never 
to  have  crossed  His  mind  that  the  evils  of  life  were 
inconsistent  with  the  Father's  love  which  He  revealed 
and  proclaimed.  No  one  ever  felt  more  keenly  than 
He  the  grief  and  pain  and  woe  of  man.  He  identified 
Himself  with  it,  endured  it  as  His  own,  suffered  and 
toiled  to  alleviate  or  remove  it ;  but  to  Him  the 
world's  disorder  was  part  of  the  divine  order — the 
discordant  notes  of  the  music  of  the  universe,  which 
were  yet  to  be  resolved  into  a  richer  and  deeper 
harmony. 

How  are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  that,  with  all 
His  knowledge  of  man's  afflictions  and  with  all  His 
sympathy  with  afflicted  man,  the  moral  government  of 
God  is  not  only  never  questioned,  but  accepted  and 
acquiesced  in  as  wise  and  good  ?  Was  it  not  because 
He  saw  the  completed  circle  of  which  we  see  but  the 
segment  ?     The   larger  issues  of  the    purpose   of  God 


ON   THE   MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION     155 

were  present  to  His  mind.  We  see  but  a  few  threads 
shot  through  the  warp  of  life  and  they  often  convey 
to  us  no  clear  conception  of  the  pattern  that  is  being 
woven,  but  the  whole  web  and  the  complete  design 
are  exposed  to  His  eye.  To  a  mind  that  sees  nothing 
beyond  death  the  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  men  must 
always  be  perplexing.  Every  affliction  at  the  moment 
is  grievous,  and  must  remain  so,  if  we  cannot  see  the 
unseen  background — the  "  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory  "  in  the  "  afterward."  ^  But  to 
the  mind  of  Christ,  as  to  that  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  all 
things  must  be  viewed  sub  specie  ceternitatis,  the  part 
explained  by  the  whole,  the  moment  by  eternity,  and 
then  the  verdict  can  be  pronounced :  "  All  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God." 

But  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  not  altogether 
relegated  to  "  the  afterward."  We  can  gather  some 
indications  of  Christ's  mind  on  the  subject.  It  must  be 
patent  to  every  one  that  Jesus  lived  His  life  on  the 
assumption  that  the  onus  of  blame  for  the  disorder  of 
the  world  lies  upon  man,  not  upon  God.  "  The  deep 
original  wound  "  of  humanity  is  self-inflicted.  It  is  the 
moral  disorder  in  man  that  occasions  the  disorder  in 
nature  and  providence.  Man  is  a  fallen  creature  and 
must  needs  exist  in  a  fallen  world.  Misfortune  and 
suffering  and  death  are  not  merely  disciplinary  agencies 
with  a  view  to  moral  culture  :  they  are  punitive  agencies, 
which  witness  to  the  wrath  of  God  against  all  un- 
righteousness. Hence  Christ  strikes  His  axe  at  the 
root  of  all  affliction  by  removing  its  cause  through 
salvation  from  sin.  He  restores  order  by  beginning 
at  the  beginning :  by  treating  the  di.sease,  not  merely 
1  2  Cor  iv.  17;  cf.  Heb.  xii.  n. 


156     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

by  alleviating  the  symptoms.  He  purifies  the  fountain 
and  thus  sweetens  the  stream.  He  works  from  the 
centre  to  the  circumference,  from  the  man  to  the 
environment,  redeeming  nature  and  rehabilitating  pro- 
vidence by  the  redemption  and  rehabilitation  of  man 
himself.^ 

There  is  profound  harmony  and  correspondence 
between  the  natural  and  moral  world.  The  one  is 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  other.  We  cannot  imagine 
what  nature  would  be  if  the  world  were  inhabited  by 
a  sinless  race.  We  know  that  the  vision  of  a  redeemed 
humanity  necessitates  the  vision  of  a  new  heaven  and 
a  new  earth — a  new  environment  for  the  new  man. 
But  we  can  imagine  what  human  life  would  become 
if  an  unredeemed  humanity  were  set  in  the  midst  of 
a  world  which  offered  no  resistance  to  man's  efforts, 
put  no  check  on  his  desires,  imposed  no  penalty  on 
his  passions,  and  never  rebuked  his  sins  by  pain  or 
death.  It  would  be  a  pandemonium,  not  a  paradise. 
The  evils  of  the  natural  world  and  the  calamities  of 
providence  are  the  consequences,  correctives,  and 
memorials  of  man's  sin. 

The  inter-relation  of  suffering  and  sin  is  hinted  at 
by  Jesus  Christ.  He  does  not  say  that  every  affliction 
of  eve^y  man  is  correlated  with  a  particular  sin.  He 
regards  humanity  as  a  unity — as  man,  not  men  ;  and 
each  is  involved  in  the  sin  of  the  race,  as  well  as  in 
his  own  share  of  it.  It  was  the  heresy  of  Christ's  day 
to  attribute  special  calamity  to  God's  vengeance  upon 
special  sin.  Men  thought  that  the  Galilasans,  "whose 
blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices "  were 
"  sinners  above  all  the  Galila^ans."  ^  Jesus  unveiled 
*  Rom.  viii.  19-22.  •  Luke  xiii.  1-3 


ON   THE   MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION     157 

the  mystery  of  misfortune.  They  were  sinners,  though 
no  more  than  the  rest  of  the  GaHlasans,  and  this  was 
a  visitation  of  God  upon  Galilaean  sin  ;  but  the  few 
suffered  justly  when  all  might  have  suffered  justly. 
"  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  So, 
also,  in  the  disaster  which  befell  the  eighteen  by  the 
fall  of  the  tower  of  Siloam,^  It  was  wrong  to  think 
that  the  particular  suffering  could  be  traced  to  a 
particular  sin  ;  that  they  who  suffered  were  more  guilty 
than  they  who  did  not.  The  calamity  was  a  prophetic 
warning  of  the  universal  ruin  that  awaits  sin,  the 
anticipation  of  the  final  storm  when  nature  will  burst 
in  punitive  wrath  upon  man.  "  Except  ye  repent  ye 
shall  all  likewise  perish." 

In  the  same  way  Jesus  associates  affliction  with  sin 
in  His  advice  to  the  impotent  man  whom  He  had 
newly  cured:  "Sin  no  more,"  said  He,  "lest  a  worse 
thing  come  unto  thee."^  Justice  is  revealed,  but  it  is 
mingled  with  mercy.  His  suffering  is  the  result  of 
sin,  though  not  necessarily  of  his  sin  ;  and  it  is  a  result 
tempered  with  pity.  Nature  has  punished,  but  under 
restraint.  Jesus  knew  that  the  affliction  might  have 
been  "  worse." 

Affliction  is  part  of  the  order  of  the  world,  and  has 
its  distinctive  functions  in  the  present  economy.  It 
is,  first,  God's  punishment  of,  and  protest  against,  sin. 
Nature  and  providence  are  utilised  by  God  to  express 
His  displeasure  with  the  sin  of  the  race.  But  the 
sufferings  and  calamities  which  visit  us  create  to  Christ's 
mind  no  difficulty  regarding  the  character  of  God ; 
for  they  are  not  only  consonant  with  His  benevolence, 
but  a  proof  of  it :  for  the  few  suffer  when  all  might 
'  Luke  xiii.  4,  5.  *  John  v.  14. 


158     CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

have  suffered,  and  the  sufferings  they  endure  might 
have  been  worse. 

Second,  affliction  prevents  the  moral  disintegration 
of  society.  Nature  and  providence  form  a  vast 
system  of  checks  and  interceptions  to  the  greed,  lust, 
cruelty,  and  selfishness  of  man.  Ruin  prevents  ruin  ; 
suffering  prevents  more  suffering ;  the  pain  of  the 
surgeon's  knife  prevents  the  pangs  of  death. 

Third,  affliction  testifies  to  the  unity  of  the  race. 
We  are  one  in  the  brotherhood  of  suffering  as  in  the 
brotherhood  of  sin.  We  suffer  for  the  sins  of  others, 
and  they  for  ours.  This  vicarious  suffering  is  one  of 
the  proofs  of  the  solidarity  of  humanity.  That  the 
righteous  and  the  redeemed  should  not  yet  be  exempt 
from  trial  and  sorrow  does  not,  from  this  point  of  view, 
occasion  surprise ;  for  afflictions  shall  only  pass  away 
when  the  whole  race  is  redeemed  and  the  new  environ- 
ment created  for  the  new  humanity.  Meanwhile  the 
best  must  suffer  with  the  worst  and  often  for  the  worst, 
as  we  are  all  parts  of  one  great  whole.  "  Yea,"  as 
Paul  has  said,  "and  all  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ 
Jesus  shall  suffer "  ^ ;  but  "  if  we  suffer  we  shall  also 
reign  with  Him."^ 

It  is  from  the  cross  of  Christ,  however,  that  a  new 
light  is  cast  upon  the  mystery  of  the  sufferings  and 
afflictions  of  man.  The  Christian  will  not  argue  that 
human  suffering  is  inconsistent  with  divine  benevolence, 
for  on  Calvary  God  Himself  in  Christ  shares  our  misery 
and  pain  and  woe.  On  the  cross  we  see  Him,  who 
knew  no  sin,  becoming  sin  for  us.  By  Him  the 
punishment  of  sin  is  borne,  and  the  eternal  protest  of 
God  against  sin  is  announced.  If  we  suffer,  God  suffers 
*  2  Tim.  iii.  12.  *  Ibid.  ii.  12. 


ON   THE    MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION     159 

with  us.  On  the  cross  the  desolation  of  God  meets 
the  desolation  of  man,  and  all  our  sorrows  are  lost  in 
His.  If  we  endure  affliction  for  others  and  carry 
burdens  that  others  might  have  borne,  the  Man  of 
Sorrows  reconciles  us  to  such  vicarious  sufferings,  for 
He  suffered  for  sins  not  His  own.  He  bore  our  griefs 
and  carried  our  sorrows.  And  why  ?  Because  the  love 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  could  not  endure  that  the 
world  should  perish,  but  offered  the  great  sacrifice  to 
arrest  its  disintegration  and  to  endow  it  with  their  own 
eternal  life.  God  thus  stoops  to  participate  in  the 
human  pain  and  misery  which  made  us  so  rebellious 
as  to  challenge  His  love,  and  He  robs  us  of  all  hard 
thoughts  and  bitter  suspicions  by  Himself  suffering  with 
us  and  for  us,  and  infinitely  more  than  we.  Affliction 
is  thus  part  of  the  divine  order  of  our  present  life,  and 
God  in  pity  involves  Himself  in  it  apparently  to  re- 
concile us  to  our  lot  and  to  provide  a  door  of  escape 
into  something  better. 

Ever  since  Christ  suffered  on  the  cross  tribulation 
has  been  transfigured  to  the  Christian.  Our  misery 
has  become  our  medicine.  Just  as  the  curse  of  toil  was 
transmuted  into  a  blessing,  and  the  sweat  of  the  brow 
becarne  the  antidote  of  evil  thoughts,  so  the  afflictions 
of  man,  when  endured  in  the  right  spirit,  become  the 
most  valuable  discipline  in  life.  Though  nature  seems 
to  be  a  hard  step-mother  to  us  all,  and  providence  a 
stern  and  cruel  schoolmaster  to  most  of  us,  the  raw 
material  of  our  nature  is  such  that  softer  ways  and 
kindlier  surroundings  might  have  produced  weaklings, 
not  men.  If  we  would  have  knowledge  we  must  wring 
her  secrets  from  nature  by  sleepless  hours  of  wrestling  ; 
if  we  would  have   courage  we  must  seize  it  from  the 


i6o    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

heart  of  the  tempest  against  which  we  battle  ;  if  we 
would  have  patience  we  must  endure  disappointment ; 
if  we  would  have  virtue  we  must  undergo  temptation ; 
if  we  would  be  holy  it  can  only  be  by  resisting  sin. 
The  evils  which  surround  us,  though  originally  sent 
with  a  punitive  purpose,  are  ordained  to  have  a  dis- 
ciplinary end  ;  and  the  faculties  which  were  weakened 
and  disordered  by  sin  arc  revived  and  restored  by  the 
afflictions  which  were  sin's  punishment. 

From  Christ  the  Christian  has  learned  that  he 
conquers  pain  by  submitting  to  it ;  that  he  rises  superior 
to  his  cross  by  carrying  it ;  that  he  reaps  "  the  peaceable 
fruits  of  righteousness "  by  enduring  the  grievous 
chastenings  of  a  loving  discipline.  The  highest  object 
in  life  is  not  to  flee  pain  or  to  pursue  pleasure. 
To  shirk  our  cross  is  to  forfeit  our  crown  ;  to  seize  the 
pleasure  of  the  moment  is  to  forego  an  eternity  of  joy. 
We  purchase  strength  from  the  storm  by  facing  it.  Our 
moral  heroisms  are  not  attained  without  agony  and 
blood  and  tears,  in  which  the  vanquished  are  the  victors. 
It  is  a  lesson  which  Paul  learned  from  his  Master  :  "  We 
are  troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed ;  we  are 
perplexed,  but  not  in  despair ;  persecuted,  but  not 
forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed  ;  always  bearing 
about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made  manifest  in  our 
body."  1 

The  kings  of  the  earth  have  many  orders  with  which 
they  delight  to  decorate  their  favourites — the  Order  of 
the  Thistle,  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  the  Order  of  the 
Eagle  ;  but  when  our  King,  who  had  only  a  thorn- 
crown  for  His  brow,  would  honour  His  subjects,  He 
'  2  Cor.  iv.  8-IO. 


ON   THE   MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION      i6i 

confers  upon  them  the  Order  of  the  Thorn.  It  is  an 
honour  which  no  man  would  naturally  covet,  yet  when 
the  King  gives  with  the  Order  grace  to  wear  it  be- 
comingly the  wearer  would  not  exchange  the  bleeding 
glory  of  it  for  all  the  jewelled  decorations  of  the  world. 
"  The  power  of  Christ "  comes  to  the  afflicted  saint, 
and  his  thorn  blossoms  as  the  rose.  He  conquers 
pain  by  suffering  it,  and  "  most  gladly  "  glories  in  his 
infirmities,  offering  that  strange  homage  of  the  saints  : 
"  therefore  I  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches, 
in  necessities,  in  persecutions,  in  distresses,  for  Christ's 
sake  :  for  when  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong."  ^  It  was 
the  observation  of  this  element  of  joyful  suffering  as 
witnessed  in  the  general  life  of  Christian  society  which 
drew  from  Romanes  the  remark  that  "  Christianity,  from 
its  foundation  in  Judaism,  has  throughout  been  a 
religion  of  sacrifice  and  sorrow.  It  has  been  a  religion 
of  blood  and  tears,  and  yet  of  profoundest  happiness 
to  its  votaries." 

But  Paul  learned  from  the  cross  of  Christ  not  only 
how  personally  to  conquer  affliction  by  enduring  it, 
but  also  that  the  endurance  of  affliction  is  part  of  our 
common  ministry  as  Christians.  The  ministry  of  the 
cross  must  be  a  ministry  of  suff"ering.  It  needed  the 
Cross  to  commend  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  world  : 
it  is  by  our  cross  that  we  commend  it  still.  We  have 
to  enter  into  "  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,"  for  the 
world  which  hated  Him  will  hate  us  also  ;  but  suff"ering 
transmutes  hate  into  love.  It  was  thus  that  Paul 
regarded  his  ministry.  It  was  in  the  commendation  of 
what  he  called  "  my  gospel "  that  he  said :  "  wherein 
I  suff^er  hardship  unto  bonds  as  a  malefactor.  . 
'  2  Cor.  xii.  lo. 

II 


i62     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Therefore  I  endure  all  things  for  the  elect's  sake,  that 
they  also  may  obtain  the  salvation  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  with  eternal  glory."  ^  His  bonds  were  his  cross, 
and  seemed  at  first  to  defeat  the  great  ends  of  his 
ministry ;  but,  as  suffering  drew  him  nearer  to  the 
Crucified,  he  discovered  that  they  were  a  needed 
accessory  to  his  testimony,  and  that  they  turned  out 
"rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel."^ 

It  was  in  this  conviction  that  he  exhorted  his  young 
disciple  Timothy,  who,  in  the  timidity  of  his  gentle 
nature,  might  have  been  tempted  to  shirk  his  own  cross 
whilst  preaching  the  cross  of  Christ :  "  Be  not  thou 
therefore  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of  our  Lord,  nor 
of  me  His  prisoner :  but  be  thou  partaker  of  the 
afflictions  of  the  Gospel."  ^  Nor  did  he  refrain  from 
warning  the  Ephesians  against  misinterpretation  of 
his  tribulation  :  "  I  desire  that  ye  faint  not  at  my 
tribulations  for  you,  which  is  your  glory."  * 

The  world  has  been  moved  by  the  cross  of  Christ, 
and  it  looks  to  see  how  we  bear  ourselves  in  regard 
to  our  own  and  that  of  others.  We  may  glory  in 
the  cross  of  Christ  and  play  the  coward  with  our  own, 
and  so  the  Gospel  may  be  made  of  none  effect.  But 
when  we  patiently  bear  our  trials  and  bend  our  back 
to  the  burden  of  others,  taking  our  share  of  the  woes 
of  humanity,  the  world  sees  in  us  the  mark  of  a  tiue 
ministry  and  votes  us  into  the  brotherhood  of  the 
saints  and  martyrs. 

Suffering  is  often  a  mark  of  special  favour  which 
Jesus  bestows  upon  His  chosen  disciples.  The  Master 
leaves  not   only   work    undone   for  His  servant  to  do, 

»  2  Tim.  ii.  9,  lo,  R.V.  *  Phil.  i.  12.  *  2  Tim.  i.  8. 

*  Eph.  iii.  13. 


ON  THE   MYSTERY   OF   AFFLICTION      163 

but  tribulation  unborne  for  His  servant  to  bear;  and 
in  the  bearing  of  it  the  servant  is  conscious  of  the 
high  honour  of  being  permitted  to  supplement  the 
sufferings  of  Jesus  for  His  Church.  In  the  great 
sacrificial  sufferings  of  Christ  His  followers  can  take 
no  part :  they  are  completed  by  Christ  alone,  and 
no  suffering  of  ours  can  add  to  their  merit.  But  there 
is  a  profound  sense  in  which  the  servant  can  supplement 
the  afflictions  of  the  Saviour  in  behalf  of  the  Church. 
The  Church  is  reared  upon  the  one  foundation  of 
the  cross,  but  it  is  built  by  the  blood  of  the  martyrs, 
the  sacrifices  of  the  saints,  the  self-denying  labours  of 
the  humblest  servants,  the  agonising  prayers  of  lonely 
souls  which  are  crushed  under  the  thought  of  the 
world's  sorrows  and  sins,  the  pain  and  patience  of 
the  great  multitude  of  sufferers  who  enter  by  the  strait 
gate  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Crucified.  All  who 
bear  their  cross  and  glory  in  the  bearing  of  it  for 
Jesus'  sake  ;  all  who  suffer  for  others  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Master — these  all,  like  the  Apostle,  *'  fill  up 
that  which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  [their] 
flesh,  for  His  body's  sake,  which  is  the  Church."  ^ 
Suffering  is  part  of  that  mysterious  and  unreaHsed 
inheritance  in  which  we  are  joint-heirs  with  Christ : 
"  We  suffer  with  Him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified 
together."  2 

In  the  school  of  suffering,  as  Paul  assures  us,  we 
also  learn  sympathy.  We  ourselves  suffer  to  suffer 
with  others.  We  become  the  channels  of  divine  comfort 
when  we  have  extracted  sweetness  of  blessing  from 
bitterness  of  sorrow.  For  who  can  comfort  but  they 
who  have  been  comforted  ?  Who  can  understand  the 
'  Col,  i.  24.  *  Rom.  viii.  17. 


i64     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

sigh  and  groan  of  the  breaking  heart  but  those  whose 
hearts  have  been  broken  and  bound  up  by  the  tender 
hand  of  Jesus  ?  It  is  only  those  who  look  through 
tears  that  we  would  wish  to  behold  our  soul's  tragedy. 
Tears  must  mingle  with  our  tears,  sobs  with  sobs, 
prayers  with  prayers,  if  others  may  watch  with  us  in 
our  Gethsemane.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the  sufferer  to 
be  rich  in  sympathy.  His  suffering  brings  him  into 
the  presence  of  the  "  God  of  all  comfort ;  who  com- 
forteth  us  in  all  our  afTfliction,  that  we  may  be  able 
to  comfort  them  that  are  in  any  affliction,  through  the 
comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted  of  God. 
For  as  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  unto  us,  even 
so  our  comfort  also  aboundeth  through  Christ."  ^  If 
we  partake  in  the  "overflow"  of  Christ's  sufferings, 
our  Christlike  consolation  will  overflow  to  the  help 
of  others. 

Blessed  be  suffering !  All  great  things  are  born  of 
suffering.  In  the  midst  of  all  its  troubles  the  soul 
looks  from  the  seen  to  the  unseen,  from  the  temporal 
to  the  eternal,  and  reckons  the  present  affliction  light 
in  view  of  the  "  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory,"  in  attaining  which  our  agonies  are  but 
incidents.^  Step  by  step  we  rise  on  the  ladder  which 
stretches  from  tribulation  to  glory.  "  We  glory  in 
tribulations  also :  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh 
patience ;  and  patience,  experience ;  and  experience, 
hope :  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed  ;  because  the 
love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  is  given  unto  us."  ^ 

'  2  Cor.  i.  3-5,  R.V.  »  Ibid.  iv.  17.  •  Rom.  v.  3-5. 


CONSCIENCE  TO  OURSELVES  AND  OTHERS 


t6s 


"There  is  a  neighbour  within,  who  is  incessantly  telling  us  how  we 
should  behave.  But  we  wait  for  a  neighbour  without  to  tell  us  of  some 
false,  easier  way." — Thoreai;. 

"Without  the  reason  conscience  is  blind;  without  conscience  reason 
is  cold  and  languid."— Trendelenburg. 

"Conscience  must  be  conquered,  if  conquered  at  all,  not  by  direct 
opposition,  but  by  evasion  and  deceit." — Abbot's  I'Voj/  to  do  Good, 


i66 


CHAPTER    XII 
CONSCIENCE  TO  OURSELVES  AND  OTHERS 

EACH  of  us  lives  in  a  little  world  of  his  own  ; 
for,  although  the  world  is  the  same  to  all,  it 
is  different  to  each.  Each  regards  it  from  his  own 
angle,  and  his  view  of  life  and  duty  is  determined  by 
education,  social  and  domestic  influances,  natural 
temperament,  and  many  other  causes.  The  individual 
finds  or  makes  his  world,  which  to  him  is  a  consistent 
totality — the  sum  of  his  opinions  and  ideals.  When 
we  act  in  contradiction  to  this  world  of  the  soul,  as 
we  might  call  it,  there  is  something  within  us  which 
accuses  and  condemns  us — a  power  which  we  do  not 
create  and  cannot  depose,  whose  Judgments,  though 
resented,  are  not  to  be  ignored — a  voice  which  speaks 
with  an  authority  independent  of  our  will,  and  witnesses 
to  the  eternal  law  of  God's  righteousness,  in  obligation 
to  which  our  lives  are  lived.  That  voice,  that  power, 
that  authority,  we  call  Conscience. 

But  as  the  circle  of  life  and  duty  which  one  man 
describes  for  himself  is  not  concentric  or  conterminous 
with  that  described  by  another,  neither  can  the  conscience 
of  one  man  be  the  measure  of  the  conscience  of  another. 
Each  lives  in  his  own  little  world,  and  judges  right 
and  wrong  by  the  standard  of  that  world.     One  man's 

167 


i68     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

conception  of  life  and  conduct  may  be  narrow  and 
ill-informed,  another's  may  be  broad  and  enlightened  : 
what  seems  wrong  to  the  one  may  raise  no  scruples 
in  the  mind  of  the  other ;  but  the  conscience  of  the 
one  cannot  determine  the  duty  of  the  other.  Each 
must  determine  the  right  or  wrong  of  his  conduct 
by  his  own  conscience.  When  conscience  blames  a 
man  for  being  untrue  to  himself — to  his  self- conscious- 
ness, his  manhood,  his  ethical  ideal — for  that  man 
the  verdict  of  his  conscience  is  final.  "  For  whatsoever 
is  not  of  faith  is  sin,"  ^ 

But  conscience  is  a  judge,  not  an  advocate.  It  does 
not  reason  with  us,  nor  is  it  safe  to  reason  with  it.  It 
is  not  a  man  speaking  with  himself,  an  alter  ego  :  it 
is  the  voice  of  One  above  who  takes  no  counsel  with 
us.  We  may  argue  it  into  silence,  but  its  silence  is 
not  to  be  mistaken  for  approval.  The  verdict  remains. 
There  can  be  no  debate,  and  there  is  no  appeal.  No 
man,  under  any  circumstances,  is  warranted  in  going 
against  his  conscience.  It  can  never  be  right  to  do 
what  the  conscience  pronounces  to  be  wrong ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  always  right  to  do  what 
the  conscience  does  not  pronounce  to  be  wrong.  One 
thing  is  final  :  what  our  conscience  condemns  can 
never  be  approved  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  all 
that  is  not  condemned  is  permitted.  That  which  is 
banned  is  banned,  but  that  which  is  not  banned  is  not 
necessarily  blessed. 

One  reason  for  this  is  that  conscience  is  limited  by 

conscience  :  ours  by  others'.     We  live  in  society  and  are 

members  one  of  another  as  parts  df  a  social  organism. 

Each  must  be  true  to  his  own  conscience  before  God, 

■  Rom.  xiv   23. 


CONSCIENCE   TO   OURSELVES  169 

but  each  must  have  respect  to  the  conscience  of  his 
neighbour.  We  live  in  a  double  relation — in  relation 
to  ourselves,  and  in  relation  to  others.  What  is  wrong 
for  me,  in  relation  to  my  little  world  of  life  and  duty, 
I  can  never  make  right.  I  cannot  do  what  conscience 
forbids.  I  must  keep  my  conscience  void  of  offence 
"  toward  God."  But  what  is  not  forbidden  is  not 
necessarily  allowed.  If  I  lived  only  to  myself,  I  would 
be  free  to  roam  about  at  liberty  in  the  unforbidden 
sphere ;  but  as  a  social  unit  my  liberty  must  not 
encroach  upon  others.  I  must  keep  a  conscience  void 
of  offence  "toward  men."  ^  My  conscience  must  take 
into  account  the  conscience  of  my  neighbour ;  and 
what  may  be  right  for  me  as  an  individual  may  be  wrong 
for  me  in  relation  to  those  around  me.  Hence,  though 
what  my  conscience  forbids  is  for  me  absolute,  what 
my  conscience  allows  is  only  relative — relative  to  the 
conscience  of  others.  What  is  wrong  to  me,  to  me 
is  always  wrong,  and  what  is  right  to  me  individually 
may  be  wrong  to  me  socially ;  and  if  wrong  to  me 
socially,  it  is  to  me  ultimately  individually  wrong  also. 
We  must  commend  ourselves  "  to  every  man's  con- 
science "  ^ ;  and  "  happy  is  he  that  condemneth  not 
himself  in  that  thing  which  he  alloweth." ' 

Regarding  conscience  to  ourselves,  a  good  conscience 
is  ours  when  our  conduct  is  consistent  with  our  ideal 
in  life.  When  conscience  has  nothing  to  say,  when 
the  judge  does  not  need  to  sit  on  the  bench,  we  are 
living  in  harmony  with  ourselves,  not  violating  that 
harmonious  scheme  of  things  which  we  call  our  world. 
"  Our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  conscience, 
that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not  with  fleshly 
'  Acts  x.\iv.  1 6.  '2  Cor.  iv.  2.  '  Rom.  xiv.  22. 


I70    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our 
conversation  in  the  world."  ^ 

But  a  good  conscience  is  not  enough.  Our  conscience 
is  not  the  highest  law :  it  is  only  our  interpretation 
of  the  highest  law  relative  to  our  view  of  life  and 
duty.  The  highest  law,  the  absolutely  right,  is  the 
law  of  God,  with  which  our  conscience,  though  good 
to  us,  may  not  be  in  harmony.  Hence  the  apparent 
paradox  that  to  act  against  our  conscience  is  always 
wrong,  but  to  act  according  to  our  conscience  is  not 
always  right. 

Paul  appreciated  this  ethical  distinction.  "  I  know," 
he  says,  "  nothing  against  myself" — my  conscience  does 
not  condemn  me — "  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified  "  :  the 
absence  of  the  condemnation  of  conscience  does  not 
warrant  the  assumption  that  his  conduct  is  absolutely 
right — God  only  knows  that.  "  He  that  judgeth  me 
is  the  Lord."  ^  I  may  be  wrong,  though  my  conscience 
does  not  tell  me  that  I  am  wrong.  The  speech  of 
conscience  is  absolute  ;  the  silence  of  conscience  needs 
interpretation. 

In  his  own  experience  Paul  exemplified  this  dis- 
tinction. In  pleading  before  the  Council  at  Jerusalem, 
he  began  by  saying  :  "  Men  and  brethren,  I  have  lived 
in  all  good  conscience  before  God  until  this  day "  ^  ; 
and  long  after  this,  when  writing  to  Timothy,  he  makes 
the  same  strange  statement :  "  I  thank  God,  whom  I 
serve  from  my  forefathers  with  pure  conscience."  *  He 
has  not  forgotten  that  he  was  a  "  blasphemer,  and  a 
persecutor,  and  injurious."^  But  at  his  conversion  he 
passed   into   a    new   world.       His    conception   of    life 

*  2  Cor.  i.  12.  *  I  Cor.  iv.  4,  R.V.  '  Acts  xxiii.   I 

*  2  Tim.  i.  3.  *  I  Tim.  i.   13. 


CONSCIENCE  TO   OURSELVES         171 

changed  after  he  had  seen  the  Crucified.  In  the  old 
world  and  in  the  new  he  was  alike  true  to  himself,  and 
acted,  according  to  the  light  given  him,  with  a  good 
conscience.  "  I  verily  thought  with  myself,  that  I  ought 
to  do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth."^  His  conscience  in  the  old  world  did  not 
condemn  him.  He  acted  consistently  with  the  totality 
of  his  thoughts  and  ideals.  But  his  conscience  in  the 
new  world  of  Christian  enlightenment  gave  a  different 
verdict,  and  he  condemned  himself  as  a  "blasphemer,  a 
persecutor,  and  injurious."  He  justified  himself  to  him- 
self in  the  old,  but  he  knows  that  he  is  not  justified 
before  the  Judge.  Conscience  had  misinterpreted  the 
law  of  God. 

We  can  see  also,  in  his  experience,  his  passage  from 
the  one  world  into  the  other.  We  usually  speak  of  his 
conversion  as  the  work  of  a  moment.  Perhaps  it  would 
be  more  consistent  with  the  facts  of  the  case  to  say 
that,  though  Paul  died  suddenly  to  the  old  life,  he  had 
been  unconsciously  dying  to  it  for  some  time  before. 
In  his  journey  to  Damascus  he  seems  to  have  been 
fighting  not  only  against  Christ,  but  against  himself — 
fighting  in  exasperation  against  the  new  light  which 
was  inevitably,  displacing  the  old.  His  conscience  was 
struggling  to  be  consistent  with  his  former  faith, 
although  already  Christ  was  asserting  His  supremacy 
over  his  soul.  The  appeal  of  Jesus  implies  this :  "  It 
is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks."^  He  had 
the  compunction  of  a  man  who  was  ill  at  ease  in  the 
new  environment  of  thought  and  duty  into  which  he 
was  passing  almost  against  his  will.  He  had  not  ad- 
justed his  conscience  to  the  new  light  which  was 
*  Acts  xxvi.  9  *  Ibid.  14. 


172     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

dawning  upon  him  and  wfthering  up  the  old  hfe  in 
which  he  had  Hved  so  conscientiously.  But  when  the 
full  day  had  come,  and  he  saw  Christ  in  that  blinding 
vision  of  glory  which  struck  him  to  the  ground,  his  con- 
science righted  itself  and  acted  with  its  old  fidelity  in 
the  new  circumstances  :  "  Whereupon,  O  King  Agrippa, 
I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision."  ^ 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  it  is  not  enough  to  have 
a  good  conscience.  The  burglar  has  a  good  conscience. 
His  theory  of  society  enables  him  to  thieve  without  any 
qualms  or  scruples.  The  nihilist  may  never  give  a 
second  thought  to  the  murder  of  a  monarch,  since  he 
regards  every  king  as  the  enemy  of  social  well-being. 
Most  criminals  can  justify  their  crimes  to  themselves. 
They  are  acting  true  to  their  world.  But  are  they 
thereby  justified  ?  Are  they  thereby  acquitted  by 
society  and  by  God  ?  Have  they  fulfilled  all  their 
obligations  ?  Obviously  their  responsibility  is  only  re- 
moved back  to  another  point.  They  are  responsible 
for  the  world  in  which  they  have  been  content  to  live. 
A  man  has  a  duty  not  only  to  act  with  a  good 
conscience,  but  also  to  provide  himself  with  an  en- 
lightened conscience.  A  man  may  not  know  he  is 
doing  wrong,  but  he  might  have  known,  and,  so  long 
as  he  could  have  known,  the  fact  that  conscience  did 
not  check  him  is  not  sufficient  excuse.  Here  again  the 
maxim  holds  true :  it  is  eternally  wrong  to  do  what 
the  conscience  forbids,  but  it  is  not  always  right  to  do 
what  the  conscience  does  not  condemn. 

When  we  pass  on  to  consider  conscience  towards 
others,  we  come  into  the  region  in  which  casuistry 
finds  its  most  subtle  exercise.  The  casuist  deals  with 
'  Acts  xxvi.  19. 


CONSCIENCE   TO   OTHERS  173 

cases  of  moral  difficulty,  with  the  view  of  reconciling 
conscience  with  duty.  Casuistry  is  a  science  which  we 
have  all  more  or  less  consciously  to  practise.  "  It  is 
actually  supposed  that  casuistry  is  the  name  of  a  crime ; 
it  does  not  appear  to  occur  to  people  that  casuistry  is 
a  science  and  about  as  much  a  crime  as  botany."^  It 
is  a  science,  however,  which  may  be  used  with  a  double 
purpose — to  help  us  to  obey  the  highest  claims  of  duty, 
or  to  help  us  to  evade  them.  We  usually  think  of  it 
in  the  latter  sense,  and  consequently  we  classify  it 
among  the  black  arts,  which  debauch  the  consciences 
they  pretend  to  guide. 

In  the  difficult  circumstances  of  his  times,  in  which 
the  Christian  converts  were  passing  over  from  a  heathen 
to  a  Christian  world  of  thought  and  life,  Paul  was 
obliged  to  discuss  certain  cases  of  conscience.  How 
were  Christian  men  to  preserve  a  pure  conscience  whilst 
living  in  a  society  permeated  by  heathen  ideals  and 
dominated  by  heathen  customs?  The  peculiarity  of 
Paul's  treatment  of  such  cases  is,  that,  unlike  the  typical 
casuist,  he  does  not  deal  with  them  with  reference  to 
particular  rules  or  precepts,  but  with  reference  to  a  few 
great  principles  of  the  spiritual  life.  He  avoids  the 
multiplication  of  laws  of  conduct,  and  makes  every  man 
the  doctor  of  his  own  conscience,  by  providing  him  with 
a  few  simple  principles  which  he  can  easily  apply  for 
himself  With  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  some  of 
these  principles  we  may  now  examine  a  few  of  these 
cases.  ' 

The  first  relates  to  a  matter  of  ceremonial.     At  first 
sight  Paul  seems  to   act   inconsistently  in    dealing   in 
different  ways  with  Timothy  and  Titus.     He  allowed 
*  Chesterton's  Browning,  193. 


174     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Timothy  to  be  circumcised  ;  he  forbade  Titus.  Now, 
so  far  as  Paul  was  concerned,  circumcision  was  nothing, 
and  likewise  uncircumcision  was  nothing.  In  itself  it 
was  not  to  him  a  matter  of  conscience  either  way.  But 
he  had  to  take  into  account  the  conscience  of  others. 
"  Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every 
man  also  on  the  things  of  others."^  In  one  set  of 
circumstances  a  thing  may  be  right,  in  another  wrong- 
It  was  right  to  circumcise  Timothy  as  a  concession 
to  the  conscientious  scruples  of  the  Jews,  but  it  would 
have  been  wrong  to  circumcise  Titus  as  a  matter  of 
obligation,  for  it  would  have  wounded  the  conscience 
of  the  Gentiles. 

The  next  case  is  that  of  the  Church  in  Rome.  Among 
the  converts  in  that  city  there  was  a  section  which 
practised  abstinence  from  certain  meats  and  drinks. 
They  may  have  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Essenes, 
and  may  have  found  in  Christianity  nothing  which 
demanded  their  renunciation  of  a  life  of  abstinence* 
Indeed,  self-denial  was  one  of  its  cardinal  principles. 
The  question  how  the  other  section  of  the  Church,  which 
had  more  liberal  views,  was  to  conduct  itself  towards 
this  section  became  accentuated  probably  at  the  love- 
feasts  when  both  ate  together.^  On  these  occasions  the 
two  parties  were  likely  to  get  into  "  doubtful  disputa- 
tions" regarding  abstinence  and  non-abstinence,  and 
the  true  significance  of  the  feast  was  in  danger  of  being 
lost  sight  of  What  was  the  duty  of  the  one  to  the 
other  in  such  a  case  ? 

The   first   thing   which    Paul   settles   is   the  attitude 

»  Phil.  ii.  4. 

*  Rom.  xiv.  14,  15.  The  whole  case  is  better  understood  by 
referring  it  to  the  love-feast ;  vide  Godet,  in  loco. 


CONSCIENCE   TO   OTHERS  175 

which  the  two  parties  should  adopt  to  one  another. 
The  liberal-minded  were  apt  to  look  upon  the  ab- 
staining members  with  contempt,  and  to  regard  their 
self-denial  as  a  weakness  ;  whilst  the  abstemious  were 
tempted  to  look  upon  the  liberal-minded  with  cen- 
soriousness,  and  to  regard  their  liberty  as  laxity.  "  Let 
not  him  that  eateth  despise  him  that  eateth  not ;  and 
let  not  him  which  eateth  not  judge  him  that  eateth."  ^ 
Paul  does  not  say  which  section  is  right.  Each  must 
justify  its  conduct  to  itself.  Apart  from  their  relation 
to  each  other,  both  were  quite  within  their  rights : 
neither  abstinence  nor  indulgence  was  enjoined  as  a 
duty,  and  either  might  be  adopted  in  practice.  Hence 
Paul  advises  mutual  forbearance.  They  are  not  there 
to  judge  one  another  ;  and,  since  both  have  been 
received  of  God,  they  may  not  be  rejected  by  one 
another.  The  important  point  is  that  in  certain 
circumstances  these  apparently  opposite  courses  of 
action  may  be  followed  with  equal  fidelity  to  conscience 
before  God,  if  every  man  is  "  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind."^ 

But  although  we  must  not  judge  one  another,  we 
cannot  go  on  our  way  independently  of  one  another, 
as  if  each  man's  conduct  were  only  his  own  concern. 
We  are  members  one  of  another  and  cannot  live  as  we 
like.  "  Let  us  not  therefore  judge  one  another  any 
more  :  but  judge  this  rather,  that  no  man  put  a 
stumbling-block,  or  an  occasion  to  fall,  in  his  brother's 
way."  ^  But  why  does  Paul  proceed  to  give  advice 
to  the  liberal-minded,  the  "strong,"  and  ask  them 
to  modify  their  line  of  conduct,  whilst  he  does  not 
ask  the  "  weak "  to  make  any  change  ?  The  reason 
*  Rom.  xiv.  3.         •  Ibid.  5.         '  Ibid.  13. 


176    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

is  that  abstinence  is  a  matter  of  conscience  with  the 
one  section  of  the  brethren,  and  without  wounding 
their  conscience  they  cannot  change  their  conduct ; 
whereas  the  others,  who  claim  a  larger  liberty,  are 
free,  without  wounding  their  conscience,  either  to 
partake  or  abstain.  The  conscience  of  the  latter  is 
not  injured  by  curtailing  their  Christian  liberty;  the 
conscience  of  the  former  is  injured  by  extending  it. 
Hence  Paul  calls  upon  the  strong  to  modify  their 
conduct  for  the  sake  of  the  weak,  according  to  the 
law  of  love.  "Let  us  therefore  follow  after  the  things 
which  make  for  peace,  and  things  wherewith  one  may 
edify  another."^ 

There  are  two  considerations  which  the  liberal-minded 
have  to  keep  before  them.  The  exercise  of  their  liberty 
in  pursuing  a  line  of  conduct  which  they  are  free  to 
modify  may  "grieve"  a  brother^  who  cannot  pursue 
the  same  line  of  conduct.  It  may  put  a  "stumbling- 
block  "  in  his  way  and  make  him  stumble,^  causing 
him  lo  doubt  his  fidelity  to  conscience,  and  tempting 
him  to  imitate  conduct  which  his  conscience  cannot 
approve.  It  may  also  destroy  Christ's  work  of  grace* 
which  is  being  furthered  under  these  conditions  of 
abstinence,  that  are  being  needlessly  tested. 

The  question,  then,  is  not  what  is  lawful,  but  what 
is  expedient :  not  whether  I  have  a  right  to  please 
myself,  but  whether  my  right  is  not  modified  by  a 
duty  towards  a  brother.  To  the  Christian  the  law 
of  love  is  above  the  law  of  liberty.  "  If  because  of 
meat  thy  brother  is  grieved,  thou  walkest  no  longer 
in  love."*     A  man  may  believe  that  "all  things  indeed 

»  Rom.  xiv.  19.  *  Ibid.  15.  '  Ibid.  13,  21. 

*  Ibid.  15.  *  Ibid.,  R.V. 


CONSCIENCE   TO   OTHERS  177 

are  pure,"  but  if  his  life  is  lived  alongside  a  brother 
who  has  scruples  of  conscience,  which  make  it  evil 
for  him  to  adopt  the  same  law  of  liberty,  then  the 
former  may  with  a  good  conscience  curtail  his  liberty 
for  the  sake  of  the  latter.  The  one  who  is  at  liberty 
has  liberty  to  deny  himself,  whereas  the  other,  whose 
conscience  is  yet  bound,  is  not  at  liberty  to  indulge. 
The  one  can  change  his  ways  without  being  untrue 
to  himself;  the  other  cannot. 

But  is  liberty  not  a  matter  of  conscience  ?  Certainly, 
says  Paul.  I  am  not  asking  you  to  give  up  your 
liberty.  I  am  only  asking  you  to  exercise  it  in  the 
line  of  self-denial.  You  have  it  still  in  your  own  heart 
and  before  God.  "  Hast  thou  faith  ?  have  it  to  thyself 
before  God."  ^  We  are  only  following  the  law  of  the 
Highest  when  we  reckon  it  our  duty  "  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please  ourselves,"^ 
"for  even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself."^ 

The  last  case  which  we  cite  occurred  in  the  Church 
at  Corinth,  and  in  many  of  its  features  is  similar  to 
that  which  occurred  in  the  Church  at  Rome.  The 
question  was  whether  Christians  should  eat  meat  which 
had  been  sacrificed  to  idols.  The  matter  was  urgent, 
as  the  heathen  festivals  played  an  important  part  in  the 
social  and  domestic  life  in  which  the  Corinthian  converts 
found  themselves  inextricably  involved. 

We  need  only  briefly  summarise  Paul's  treatment  of 
the  case.  We  know,  says  Paul,  that  idols  are  nothing  : 
there  is  but  one  God.  "  Howbeit  there  is  not  in  every 
man  that  knowledge  " ;  ^  many  of  the  converts  have  not 
yet  got  rid  of  their  scruples  of  conscience  in  this  matter. 
We  can  eat  with   a  good  conscience,  but  they  cannot 

•  Rom.  xiv.  22.       *  Ibid.  xv.  I.     ^  Ibid.  3.      *  1  Cor.  viii.  4,  7. 

12 


178     CULTURE  OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

without  their  conscience  being  defiled.^  The  eating  of 
meat  offered  to  idols,  or  the  not  eating  of  it,  is  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  us  so  far  as  our  relation  to  God  is  con- 
cerned.^ But  we  live  in  relation  to  men  also,  and  every 
act  has  a  social  reference.  The  question  is  not  what  is 
allowable  before  God,  but  what  is  expedient  in  the  sight 
of  men.  If  a  brother  follow  our  example  without  having 
our  knowledge,  his  soul  is  wounded  by  doing  that 
which  he  cannot  justify  at  the  bar  of  his  conscience.^ 
Who  is  responsible  ?  Our  liberty  has  become  a  stumb- 
ling block  to  the  weakness  of  our  brother,*  and  in  sinning 
against  him  we  have  sinned  "  against  Christ,"  ^  who 
died  for  him  and  for  us. 

At  this  point  Paul  interpolates  an  illustration  drawn 
from  his  own  mode  of  life.  Why  docs  he  not  take  the 
remuneration  to  which  his  services  as  a  minister  of  Christ 
entitle  him  ?  Why  does  he  still  engage  in  manual  labour 
to  support  himself?  "  Have  not  we  power  to  forbear 
working  ?  "  ^  The  soldier  has  a  right  to  his  hire ;  the 
vinedresser  to  the  fruit  of  the  vine  ;  the  shepherd  to  the 
milk  of  the  flock  :  the  very  ox  to  its  share  of  the  corn 
that  it  treads  : '  so,  "  if  we  have  sown  unto  you  spiritual 
things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal 
things  ? "  ^  Why  deny  myself  this  liberty  which  my 
conscience  allows  ?  My  object  in  life  is  not  merely  to 
make  a  living ;  and,  lest  my  acceptance  of  remuneration 
should  reduce  my  ministry  in  your  eyes  to  the  level  of 
the  occupation  of  the  Sophists,  who  go  about  Corinth 
displaying  their  rhetoric  for  money,  I  prefer  in  the 
circumstances  to  maintain  myself  by  my  own  handi- 
work.    My  ministry  is  more  than  a  profession.     "We 

»  I  Cor.  viii.  7.   »  Ibid.  8.   *  Ibid.  10,   *  Ibid.   9. 
»  Ibid.  12.   6  Ibid.  ix.  6.   '  Ibid.  7-9.  »  Ibid.  il. 


CONSCIENCE   TO   OTHERS  179 

have  not  used  this  power ;  but  suffer  all  things,  lest  we 
should  hinder  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  ^  My  chief  end  is 
to  serve  Christ  by  winning  men  to  His  allegiance,  and 
my  highest  liberty  is  to  deny  myself  any  liberty  to  gain 
my  end.  "  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I 
might  by  all  means  save  some. "  ^  In  the  same  way 
he  argues,  why  should  a  Christian  grudge  to  curtail  his 
liberty  for  the  sake  of  the  end  he  has  in  view  ?  Liberty 
is  not  an  end  in  itself.  The  Christian  is  doing  no  more 
than  the  runner,  who  sacrifices  everything  for  the  prize — 
"  so  run,  that  ye  may  obtain "  ^ ;  or  the  wrestler  who 
denies  himself  for  the  sake  of  the  corruptible  crown — 
he  "is  temperate  in  all  things."*  Self-denial  even  in 
things  legitimate  and  innocent  is  the  law  of  life,  and 
those  who  are  free  to  deny  themselves  should  deny 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  others,  for  "  all  things  are 
lawful  for  me,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient."^ 

In  returning  to  the  subject  under  dispute,  Paul  points 
to  the  end,  the  prize,  the  crown,  which  the  Christian  has 
in  view,  and  for  which  all  things,  even  those  which 
are  lawful,  must  be  sacrificed  :  "  Let  no  man  seek  his 
own,  but  each  his  neighbour's  good.".^  Applying  that 
principle  to  meat  offered  unto  idols,  Paul  says,  if  a 
Christian  has  no  scruples  of  conscience  he  may  for  his 
own  table  buy  any  meat  in  the  market,  and  eat  it,  ask- 
ing no  questions :  "  For  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the 
fulness  thereof"  ^  Again,  if  you  are  asked  to  the  table 
of  a  heathen  friend,  you  may  go,  "  if  ye  be  disposed  to 
go  " ;  and,  if  nothing  is  said,  "  whatsoever  is  set  before 
you,  eat,  asking  no  question  for  conscience  sake."  ^     But 

1  I  Cor.  ix.  12.  -  /5id.  22.  ^  /^/^  34. 
*  /did.  25.  *  /did.  X.  23.  »  /did.  24,  R.V. 
»  I6td.  26.  8  /did.  27. 


i8o    CULTURE   OF   THE    SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

if  any  brother  Christian  at  the  table  says  :  "  This  is  offered 
unto  idols, "  abstain  for  conscience  sake — not  for  your 
conscience,  but  for  his.  And  why?  Not  because  you 
renounce  your  liberty,  but  you  refrain  from  using  it  lest 
your  liberty  should  conflict  with  his  conscience.^  What 
an  unedifying  spectacle  to  the  Christian  and  heathen 
guests  alike,  to  see  you  giving  thanks  to  God  for  what 
you  eat,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  to  hear  you  evil 
spoken  of  for  eating  it !  ^  Is  it  to  the  glory  of  God  that 
I  eat  or  that  I  abstain,  that  I  use  my  liberty  or  that  I 
waive  it,  that  I  please  myself  or  that  I  edify  my  brother? 
"  Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.  Give  none  offence,  neither 
to  the  Jews,  nor  to  the  Gentiles,  nor  to  the  Church  of 
God."  3 

'  I  Cor.  X.  28,  29.  *  Ibid.  30.  '  Ibid.  31,  32. 


THIS     GRACE     ALSO 


s8i 


"  Christians  are  like  the  several  flowers  in  a  garden  that  have  each  of 
them  the  dew  of  heaven,  which  being  shaken  with  the  wind  they  let 
fall  at  each  other's  roots,  whereby  they  are  jointly  nourished,  and  become 
nourishing  of  each  other." — BuNYAN. 

"A  man  has  a  right  to  nothing:  he  is  under  obligation  for  the  good 
he  has  received,  and  so  he  can  exact  nothing.  Even  if  he  were  to 
give  up  his  whole  life  to  the  service  of  others,  he  could  not  pay  the  debt 
he  has  incurred." — Tolstoi's  My  Religion. 

"Quia  non  quantum  detur  sed  quantum  resideat  expenditur." — 
Ambrose. 

"  It  does  seem  to  me  that  men  make  a  wonderful  mistake  in  trying 
to  heap  up  property  upon  property.  If  I  had  done  so  I  should  feel 
as  if  Providence  was  not  bound  to  take  care  of  me  ;  and  at  all  events,  the 
city  wouldn't  be  !  I'm  one  of  those  people  who  think  that  infinity  is 
big  enough  for  us  all,  — and  eternity  long  enough." — Hawthorne's 
House  of  Seven  Cables. 


i8s 


CHAPTER    XIII 
THIS     GRACE     ALSO 

OF  all  the  graces  usually  welcomed  and  enter- 
tained by  the  Christian  there  is  one  that  is  often 
not  admitted  with  the  rest.  She  is  kept  standing  at 
the  door,  neglected  if  not  despised  ;  but  when  she  is 
admitted,  all  the  other  graces  become  more  gracious 
by  her  presence.  She  enables  them  to  be  active, 
working,  social  graces,  and  is  to  them,  as  it  were,  hands 
and  feet.     Her  name  is  Liberality. 

It  is  strange  that  we  covet  all  the  other  gifts  of  God 
more  and  sooner  than  we  covet  the  gift  of  giving.  For 
giving  is  a  gift  of  God's  grace,^  bestowed  upon  those 
who  receive  His  gifts  on  the  condition  that  they  give 
away. 

Giving  is  a  grace  which  is  needed  in  order  to  round 
off  the  Christian  character  and  to  make  it  complete. 
The  Corinthians  were  said  to  "  abound  in  everything  ; 
in  faith,  and  utterance,  and  knowledge,  and  in  all  dili- 
gence," and  even  in  love,  yet  the  one  grace  of  liberality 
had  been  left  out.^  But  what  is  faith  in  God  without 
charity  to  man  ?  What  is  an  eloquent  tongue  without 
an  open  hand  ?  What  is  all  our  knowledge  if  we  have 
no  active  sympathy  ?  What  is  all  our  zeal  for  right- 
eousness  if  we   neglect   the   poor  and  needy?     What 

*  2  Cor.  viii.  i,  6.  •  Ibid,  7. 

183 


i84     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

is  our  love  of  others  if  we  take  care  that  it  never  costs 
us  anything  ?  "  See  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace  also," 
says  Paul,  with  the  view  of  completing  their  Christian 
attainments.  For  we  may  abound  in  all  other  graces, 
and  they  may  He  in  the  heart  like  water  in  a  cistern  ; 
but  it  is  when  "  this  grace  also "  is  added,  that  the 
other  graces  spring  up  like  a  well  for  the  blessing 
of  our  fellows.  Yet  how  often  we  pray  for  the  gifts 
that  are  got,  how  seldom  for  the  gift  that  gives  ! 

Though  liberality  deals  in  material  things,  it  is  itself 
spiritual.  It  is  instructive  to  notice  how  Paul  elevates 
this  homely  serving  virtue  into  the  sisterhood  of  the 
graces.  He  calls  it  "  this  grace  also,"  ^  love's  "  proof,"  ^ 
"  your  blessing," '  "  this  act  of  worship."  *  "this  ministra- 
tion,"' Giving  is  part  of  the  soul's  liturgy — a  form 
of  worship  in  which  its  faith  and  knowledge  and  love 
find  fitting  expression.  The  offering  is  part  of  the 
service,  an  act  of  homage  whereby  we  acknowledge  our 
indebtedness  to  God  for  all  other  gifts  as  well  as  for 
the  gift  of  giving  itself 

Paul  has  much  to  say  on  this  crowning  grace  of 
the  Christian  character  ;  and  much  is  still  needed  to 
be  said.  The  history  of  the  Church  of  Corinth  has 
been  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  whole  Church 
of  Christ,  in  this  respect — in  the  one  as  in  the  other 
liberality  is  a  plant  which  has  flowered  late,  though 
the  seed  was  sown  early  by  the  Great  Sower  Himself 
It  is  among  the  last  graces  to  appear  in  a  Church, 
and  also  among  the  last  which  the  Christian  appreciates 
and  practises.  The  getting  graces  first  attract ;  religion 
seems  only  to  be  a  reception  of  the  gifts  of  God.     We 

*  2  Cor.  viii.  7,  19.        *  Ibid.  8,  24.         '  Ibid  ix.  5,  margin. 
*  Ibid.  12,  XtiToup-yi'a.  *  Ibid.   13. 


THIS  GRACE   ALSO  185 

learn  afterwards  the  value  of  the  giving  grace — that 
we  retain  possession  by  giving  away,  and  that,  like 
our  Master,  we  receive  "  gifts  for  men."  It  is  a  strange 
psychological  fact  that  we  may  be  spiritually  minded 
but  stony-hearted  ;  pious  but  mean ;  willing  to  take 
all  from  God  but  to  give  little  to  man  ;  eager  to  press 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ourselves,  but  slow  to  make 
sacrifice  of  time  and  labour  and  money  to  bring  others 
in.  But,  after  all,  if  we  have  not  "  this  grace  also," 
our  other  graces  are  largely  discounted.  A  small  heart 
is  greedy  of  getting  and  is  never  full :  a  large  heart 
is  generous  in  giving  and  is  never  empty. 

When  we  seek  for  the  principle  of  Christian  liberality, 
we  find  that  the  Apostle,  like  his  Master,  presents  it 
in  the  form  of  stewardship.  "  Ye  are  not  your  own  ; 
for  ye  were  bought  with  a  price :  glorify  God  therefore 
in  your  body."  ^  The  life  which  has  been  redeemed  by 
Christ  from  sin  is  given  back  to  be  lived  by  us  as 
stewards.  It  belongs  to  Christ,  and  we  are  only  trustees. 
We  may  alienate  or  misuse  the  trust  by  regarding  it 
as  our  own.  We  may  serve  ourselves  with  it,  ignoring 
the  will  of  God  in  the  getting  and  the  spending  of  the 
fruits  of  life's  labours  ;  but  His  possession  is  inalienable, 
and  we  must  give  an  account  of  our  stewardship  at  the 
last.  This  is  the  fundamental  truth  of  all  Christian 
liberality.  "  We  are  not  our  own  " ;  and  if  we  are  not 
our  own,  then  what  we  call  ours  is  not  our  own.  Our 
possessions  are  part  of  our  personality. 

Looking  at  it  from  lower  ground,  it  is  because   our 

faculties  belong  to  God   that   what  is  earned  by  their 

use  must,  in  the  last  instance,  be  His  also.     So,  too,  if 

"  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,"  that  which  the  labour  of  mind 

*  I  Cor  vi.  19,  20,  R.V. 


i86    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

or  body  gets  out  of  it  cannot  be  ours :  both  the 
instrument  and  the  material  are  His.  By  right  of 
creation,  then,  the  wealth  of  all  men  belongs  to  God 
and  should  be  used  for  God.  "  What  hast  thou  that 
thou  didst  not  receive  ?  "  ^ 

But  the  Christian  recognises  a  still  higher  claim.  He 
sees  the  great  proof  of  his  redemption  in  the  cross,  on 
which  is  written  in  blood  the  price  of  his  life  and  of 
all  his  life  is  worth  or  can  bring  ;  and  he  knows  that, 
as  Christ  died  for  him,  so  his  life  must  henceforth 
be  lived  for  Christ.  The  stewardship  of  the  Christian 
life  is  based  upon  the  right  of  redemption  ;  and  a 
Christian's  liberality  is  based  upon  stewardship  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  fact  that  neither  he  nor  his  is 
his  own. 

This  principle  of  stewardship  which  underlies  the 
whole  administration  of  the  Christian  life  is  enforced, 
in  the  teaching  of  Paul,  by  various  motives. 

First,  the  Apostle  cites  the  example  of  Christ.  It 
is  worthy  of  note  that  Paul  sees  everything  in  the  light 
that  streams  from  the  cross.  Even  when  pleading  for 
a  collection,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  find  the  motive  for 
our  liberality  in  the  Crucified.  The  humblest  duty  is 
brought  into  relation  with  that  great  act  of  history  which 
has  transfigured  our  common  life.  The  poor  saints 
in  Jerusalem  were  to  be  supported  by  the  self-denial 
of  others  because  Christ  denied  Himself.  "  For  ye 
know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though 
He  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor,  that 
ye  through  His  poverty  might  be  rich."^  The  grace 
of  giving  is  thus  traced  back  to  the  giving  of  grace 
through  Jesus  Christ ;  the  giving  of  money,  to  the 
'  I  Cor.  iv.  7.  *  2  Cor.  viii.  9. 


THIS  GRACE   ALSO  187 

giving  of  life  ;  the  collection,  to  the  cross.  "  He  was 
rich";  "by  Him  were  all  things  created  that  are  in 
heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible, 
whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities, 
or  powers  :  all  things  were  created  by  Him,  and  for 
Him  :  and  He  is  before  all  things,  and  by  Him  all 
things  consist "  ^ ;  and  yet  for  our  sakes  He  "  emptied 
Himself  "2  on  the  cross  of  all  this  wealth  of  being  and 
power  and  possession  that  He  might  give  us  back  our 
life  redeemed  and  restored.  What  divine  liberality ! 
He  gave  till  He  could  give  no  more :  He  gave 
Himself. 

According  as  we  appreciate  and  appropriate  this 
wondrous  grace  of  giving  in  Christ,  we  manifest  the  same 
grace  of  giving  in  our  own  humbler  way.  Our  use  of 
money  is  consecrated  when  we  remember  that,  though 
we  should  give  all  to  God,  we  could  never  give  as  much 
as  we  owe  to  discharge  that  debt  which  is  due  to  Christ 
who  gave  His  all  for  us.  The  Christian,  who  knows 
the  value  of  his  salvation  and  the  price  which  it  cost* 
never  asks  with  how  small  a  gift  he  can  escape,  but 
with  how  large  a  gift  he  can  give  expression  to  his  grati- 
tude. He  does  not  measure  his  gift  by  the  standard 
of  his  fellow-men,  but  by  that  of  the  cross,  and  all  his 
giving  is  an  honourable  acknowledgment  of  a  debt 
which  he  can  never  repay  and  never  renounce. 

But  another  motive  is  adduced — a  motive  of  a  dififer- 
ent  sort — the  example  of  the  Macedonians.  He  had 
cited  the  example  of  the  richest — Christ  ;  he  now  cites 
the  example  of  the  poorest — the  Macedonian  Churches. 
They  were  poor  and  persecuted,  but  they  were  joyous 
and  generous  withal.  "  Their  deep  poverty  abounded 
1  Col.  i.  16,  17.  *  Phil.  ii.  7,  8,  R.V. 


i88     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

unto  the  riches  of  their  liberality."  ^  They  willingly 
gave  even  "  beyond  their  power."  ^  The  example  of  Jesus 
might  seem  beyond  the  common  Christian  ;  this  beneath 
him  ;  but  to  Paul  both  are  animated  by  the  one  spirit. 
He  refers  to  the  Macedonian  liberality  not  to  get  more 
money,  but  to  create  more  of  the  grace  that  gives  : 
not  to  increase  the  collection,  but  to  refine  and  complete 
the  character  of  the  givers.  The  mere  desire  to  over- 
top the  Macedonians  in  their  gifts  would  have  been 
an  unworthy  motive,  but  to  incite  the  Corinthians  to  a 
healthy  rivalry  in  a  Christian  grace  which  men  are  slow 
to  cultivate  was  quite  befitting  the  Apostle  and  the 
occasion. 

The  generosity  of  the  Macedonian  churches  was  an 
encouragement  to  the  poor  and  a  warning  to  the  pros- 
perous. Paul  knew  that  the  Corinthian  church,  to 
which  he  was  appealing,  had  "  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble "  ^  among  their  number,  but  even  their 
poverty  did  not  deprive  them  of  the  privilege,  or  relieve 
them  of  the  duty,  of  acknowledging  their  indebtedness 
for  salvation  by  their  gifts.  Indeed,  as  a  matter  of 
experience,  poor  churches  and  poor  Christians  often 
give  more  to  God,  in  proportion  to  their  means,  than 
the  rich.  The  sense  of  dependence  upon  God  is  keener 
when  we  know  that  there  is  provision  for  little  more 
than  our  daily  wants,  and  when  the  future  is  contingent 
upon  the  health  and  strength  which  God  may  give  or 
withhold.  The  man  who  thinks  he  is  too  poor  to  give 
any  of  his  substance  to  God  is  not  likely  to  give  much 
when  he  becomes  rich.  Generosity  is  hard  to  cultivate 
late  in  life.  The  one-talent  man  is  a  steward  as  well 
as  the  man  with  ten  talents.  Both  are  expected  to 
>  2  Cor.  viii.  2.  »  Ibid.  3,  R.V.  '  i  Cor.  i.  26. 


THIS   GRACE   ALSO  189 

honour  God,  not  with  equal  gifts,  but  with  equal  fidelity 
and  equal  gratitude.  Even  though  God  gives  us  little, 
it  is  God  who  gives ;  and,  if  we  think  of  the  unsearch- 
able riches  which  He  bestows  upon  us  in  Christ,  the 
poorest  will  not  come  behind  the  richest  in  acknow- 
ledging the  debt. 

But  the  "  riches  of  the  liberality "  of  the  poor 
Macedonians  was  also  a  warning  to  the  rich.  How 
few  Christians  increase  in  their  giving  to  God  as  they 
increase  in  the  wealth  that  God  gives  them !  With 
the  gaining  of  wealth  there  is  often  a  losing  in  the 
simplicity  of  our  tastes  and  desires,  and  things  which 
were  luxuries  to  us  in  the  days  of  our  poverty  and 
struggle  become  necessities  to  us  in  the  days  of  affluence 
and  ease,  and  thus  the  margin  of  what  we  think  we 
can  give  to  God  shrinks  as  our  selfish  expenditure 
enlarges. 

Then,  again,  the  sense  of  dependence  upon,  and 
obligation  to,  God  is  often  weakened  by  a  good  balance 
at  the  bank,  a  competency  gathered  together,  or  a  life 
well  insured.  To  keep  alive  a  sense  of  our  true  relation 
to  God,  as  a  relation  of  loving  and  grateful  dependence, 
we  must  strive  against  selfishness  and  avarice  by  begin- 
ning early  in  life — even  in  the  days  of  pinch  and 
poverty — to  honour  God  with  our  substance,  that  in 
better  days  we  may  not  be  worse,  appropriating  and 
using  all  the  wealth  that  God  has  given  us  as  if  it 
were  our  own.  The  fate  of  the  avaricious  soul  which 
builds  barns  and  counts  on  many  days  of  ease,  leaving 
God  out  of  the  reckoning  when  counting  up  its  goods, 
is  held  up  by  Christ  as  the  great  warning  to  men  who 
sit  in  security  and  independence  and  selfish  comfort, 
gnoring  the  stewardship  of  wealth. 


I90    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

But  the  Apostle  adduces  still  another  motive  for 
Christian  liberality.  It  is  "the  proof  of  your  love"^: 
it  serves  "to  prove  the  sincerity  of  your  love."  ^  It  is 
somewhat  remarkable  that  Paul  omits  many  of  those 
arguments  which  we  are  accustomed  to  use.  He  does 
not  draw  pathetic  pictures  of  the  suffering  poor.  He 
does  not  speak  of  the  misery  and  want  that  are  to 
be  relieved.  He  does  not  enforce  liberality  as  a  debt 
which  we  owe  to  society.  He  keeps  on  higher  ground. 
It  is  a  debt  we  owe  to  Christ ;  it  is  a  duty  we  owe  to 
ourselves  as  Christians  ;  it  is  a  grace  which  we  should 
cultivate  in  order  to  be  complete  in  Christ ;  it  is  part 
of  our  likeness  to  Christ,  who  forfeited  His  riches  to 
enrich  us  in  our  poverty.  These  Corinthians  were 
being  exhorted  to  assist  the  poor  brethren  in  Jerusalem. 
Gentiles  to  give  to  Jews!  Gentiles  to  give  to  Jews 
whom  they  had  never  seen  or  known,  and  never  would 
see  or  know !  Had  it  been  for  poor  neighbours  in  the 
next  street,  their  liberality  might  have  been  a  proof 
of  their  pity  for,  and  suffering  with,  humanity ;  but, 
being  for  Jews  and  strangers  far  away,  it  could  only 
be  a  proof  of  their  love  of  Christ.  What  other  power 
can  constrain  us  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  unseen,  the 
unknown  ?  All  men  are  brought  near  to  us  in  Christ. 
When  we  see  the  wounds  in  Christ's  hands  and  feet 
and  side,  the  wounds  of  suffering  men  never  cry  out 
in  vain.  When  we  see  the  King  of  glory  setting  aside 
all  the  riches  of  His  nature  on  the  cross  and  becoming 
poor  for  our  sakes,  the  cause  of  the  poor  everywhere 
is  defended.  Love  calls  for  proof,  and  the  proof  it 
calls  for  is  liberality — liberality  which  finds  its  satis- 
faction and  end  not  merely  in  relieving  the  want  and 
'  2  Cor.  viii.  24.  *  Ibid.  8. 


THIS   GRACE   ALSO  191 

pain  and  woe  of  man,  but  in  responding  to  the  love 
of  Christ,  who  gave  proof  of  His  love  for  us  and  all  men 
by  giving  Himself  upon  the  cross. 

We  may  turn  now  from  the  consideration  of  the 
motives  to  that  of  the  spirit  of  Christian  liberality.  A 
gift  is  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  spirit  of  the  gift. 
The  spirit  in  which  we  give  is  the  ethical  measure  of 
the  gift.  "Jesus  sat  over  against  the  treasury,  and 
beheld  how  the  people  cast  money  into  the  treasury  "  ^ — 
how,  not  what,  nor  how  much.  He  scrutinised  the  man, 
not  the  money. 

Paul  has  much  to  say  on  the  spirit  of  giving.  We 
must  first  give  ourselves.  This  is  the  Macedonian  spirit 
of  giving.  They  "  first  gave  their  own  selves  to  the 
Lord."^  In  this  they  were  followers  of  Jesus,  who 
gave  Himself  for  us.  God  does  not  ask  the  gift  without 
the  giver.  When  the  giver  gives  himself  then  he 
acknowledges  that  he  owes  to  God  all  he  has,  as  a 
steward  to  his  Lord.  Giving  is  never  hard  to  him  who 
has  given  himself:  the  greater  includes  the  less.  When 
we  have  given  ourselves,  how  shall  we  not  with  our- 
selves also  freely  give  God  all  things  ?  The  battle 
with  avarice  is  won  when  a  man  surrenders  himself 
to  Christ :  he  may  have  to  fight  a  few  skirmishes  with 
his  selfish  desires  and  his  greed  in  hoarding,  but  he 
can  already  count  himself  victor. 

There  must  be  also  "  a  willing  mind."  ^  We  must  give 
to  God  "  as  a  matter  of  bounty,  and  not  of  extortion."  * 
This  is  the  same  spirit  of  liberality  as  was  taught  by 
Christ :  "  freely  ye  have  received  :  freely  give."  ^  God 
was  under  no  compulsion  to  give  us  such  a  gift  as  He 

*  Mark  xii,  41.  '  2  Cor.  viii.  5.  '  Ibid  12. 

*  Jbid.  ix.  5,  R.V.  '  Matt.  x.  J4. 


192     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

gave,  except  the  inner  compulsion  of  His  free  grace ; 
so  man's  offerings  to  God  are  worthless,  except  they 
are  given  freely  as  the  offerings  of  gratitude  and  love. 
The  gift  that  is  grudged  is  already  discounted  by  God. 
We  may  give  all  our  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  but  without 
love  it  is  nothing.  He  credits  us  only  with  the  gift 
that  comes  as  naturally  from  the  heart  as  the  flower 
from  the  seed,  or  the  song  from  the  bird,  or  the  answer- 
ing smile  of  love  from  the  face  of  a  child.  '*  Every 
man  according  as  he  purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him 
give ;  not  grudgingly,  or  of  necessity :  for  God  loveth 
a  cheerful  giver."  ^ 

There  must  be  the  willing  deed  as  well  as  the  willing 
mind.  The  willing  mind  is  not  enough.  There  must 
also  be  the  substantial  expression  of  it.  The  test  of 
our  love  is  not  merely  the  feeling  that  is  present  to 
our  consciousness,  but  the  course  of  action  which  it 
inspires.  The  will  cannot  be  taken  for  the  deed,  except 
when  there  is  inability  to  perform.  The  Corinthians 
were  ready  to  consent  to  make  a  collection ;  but  the 
collection  had  not  been  made,  and  the  willing  mind 
did  not  count.  It  is  a  cheap  love  of  Christ  which  sings 
about  it,  and  prays  about  it ;  what  it  is  worth  is  tested 
by  the  sacrifices  we  make  for  it.  What  is  the  salvation 
of  your  soul  worth?  Pay  your  debt  and  prove  your 
sincerity.  "  Now  therefore,"  says  Paul,  "  perform  the 
doing  of  it ;  that  as  there  was  a  readiness  to  will,  so 
there  may  be  a  performance  also  out  of  that  which  ye 
have.  For  if  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted 
according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  according  to 
that  he  hath  not."  =^ 

TJure  must  be  the  sympathy  of  brotJierJwod  as  of  a 
'  2  Cor.  ix.  7.  *  Ibid,  viii.  11,  12. 


THIS   GRACE   ALSO  193 

family  dependent  upon  the  Father.  Paul  anticipates  an 
objection.  Charity  begins  at  home,  the  Corinthian 
might  say :  why  should  I  impoverish  myself  that 
another  may  be  enriched  ?  His  answer  is,  "  I  mean 
not  that  other  men  be  eased,  and  ye  burdened  ;  but 
by  an  equality,  that  now  at  this  time  your  abundance 
may  be  a  supply  for  their  want,  that  their  abundance  also 
may  be  a  supply  for  your  want :  that  there  may  be 
equality"^;  and  then  he  aptly  illustrates  his  meaning 
by  the  feeding  of  the  Israelites  with  the  manna  :  "  As 
it  is  written,  He  that  had  gathered  much  had  nothing 
over ;  and  he  that  had  gathered  little  had  no  lack."  ^ 
Charity  begins  at  home :  yes  ;  but  what  and  where  is 
home?  The  family  makes  the  home,  and  the  Father 
the  family.  The  whole  world  is  home  to  the  Christian 
and  the  Christ.  All  men  are  brethren,  members  of 
the  one  family  :  God  provides  the  manna  for  all  His 
children.  What  is  given  us  is  not  merely  for  the  good 
of  each,  but  for  the  good  of  all.  There  is  enough  for 
all,  and  no  one  needs  more  than  enough.  And  no 
one  need  have  less  than  enough,  if  only  the  superfluity 
of  the  few  were  applied  to  the  wants  of  the  many. 
It  is  not  a  matter  of  enriching  and  impoverishing : 
it  is  a  matter  of  equalising  the  gifts  of  God  among 
God's  children,  who  are  brethren.  God  has  made  ample 
provision  for  all,  and  has  so  ordained  that  with  money 
as  with  manna,  he  who  gathers  more  than  he  needs 
finds  the  worm  and  the  canker  in  what  he  hoards  and 
will  not  share.  In  the  end  of  the  day,  he  that  gathered 
much  hath  nothing  over.  But  He  has  ordained  also 
that  they  who  by  sickness  or  age  cannot  gather  for 
want  of  opportunity  should  not  lack  ;  for  the  abundance 
*  2  Cor,  viii.  13,  14.  ^  Ibid.  15. 

13 


194    CULTURE    OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

of  their  brethren  is  sufficient,  if  distributed,  to  supply 
their  necessities.  There  is  enough  in  God's  world  for 
all  the  Father's  family,  if  only  the  greed  and  indifference 
of  His  children  did  not  prevent  brotherly  distribution. 
Paul  thus  advocates  "  an  equality,"  not  on  the  unreal 
assumption  that  all  men  are,  or  can  be,  made  alike 
like  bricks,  but  on  the  ground  that  all  men  are  alike 
as  brethren,  with  different  tastes  and  endowments 
though  with  the  same  love  of  the  Father.  The  contrast 
in  ability  and  attainment  may  be  mitigated  by  the 
spirit  of  brotherhood  based  upon  mutual  dependence 
upon  the  Father's  goodness.  He  pleads  for  a  free 
communism  of  love,  not  a  compulsory  communism 
of  law. 

But  the  Apostle  apparently  realises  so  fully  the 
importance  of  cultivating  this  grace  of  Christian  liber- 
ality that  he  even  supplies  us  with  a  method  of  giving — 
a  method  which,  were  it  adopted,  would  sanctify  wealth 
to  the  Christian  and  revolutionise  the  whole  life  and 
organisation  of  the  Church.  His  method  is  formulated 
in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  in  a  single  sentence  : 
'  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that 
there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come."  ^ 

There  are  three  things  to  notice  in  this  method. 
Giving  is  to  be  (i)  Systematic;  (2)  Proportionate; 
(3)  Deliberate. 

I.  Systematic.  "  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week 
let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store."  Giving 
is  to  be  systematic  in  time  and  in  manner.  "  Upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week."  The  time  is  significant.  There 
are  three  great  natural  divisions  of  time  which  are 
'  I  Cor.  xvi.  2. 


THIS   GRACE    AT.SO  195 

determined  by  the  movements  of  nature.  The  day  is 
fixed  by  the  sun  ;  the  month  by  the  moon  ;  the  year 
by  the  revolution  of  the  seasons.  The  first  day  of 
the  week,  however,  is  associated  with  the  great  event 
of  grace — the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  that 
reason  "  this  grace  also "  is  associated  with  that  day. 
The  day  of  our  spiritual  getting  is  most  appropriate 
as  the  day  of  our  spiritual  giving.  On  that  day,  when 
our  thoughts  are  dwelling  on  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  on  all  we  owe  to  Him  in  life  and  death  and 
eternity,  we  are  to  worship  God  with  our  gifts,  to 
sanctify  all  our  substance  by  dedicating  to  Him  part 
of  what  He  gave. 

The  manner  is  also  significant :  "  Let  every  one  of 
you  lay  by  him  in  store."  The  first  day  of  the  week  is 
not  necessarily  the  day  on  which  our  gifts  are  distributed'. 
it  is  the  day  upon  which  they  are  dedicated.  All  our 
gifts  are  to  be  given  to  God  first,  before  we  allocate 
them  to  churches  or  philanthropic  institutions  or  men. 
We  are  to  keep  a  fund  sacred  to  God,  dedicated  to 
Him  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  our  indebtedness 
to  Him  for  His  blessings  of  grace  and  providence. 
All  our  givings  are  to  be  paid  out  of  that  sacred  store. 
That  is  to  be  reckoned  as  no  longer  ours,  but  the 
Lord's  portion,  to  be  distributed  by  us  with  wisdom 
and  fidelity  as  the  Lord's  stewards.  The  secret  of 
Christian  giving  is  giving  to  God  first  as  an  act  of 
worship,  obedience,  and  gratitude,  and  giving  to  objects 
of  religion  and  charity  afterwards  out  of  the  gifts 
which  are  no  longer  ours,  but  His — laid  by  in  store. 

2,  Proportionate.  "  Every  man  ....  as  God  hath 
prospered  him."  Gifts  are  to  be  in  proportion  to  pros- 
perity.    Each  person  should  set  aside  at  stated  intervals 


196     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

— weekly,  Paul  suggests — a  portion  of  his  income,  to 
be  fixed,  not  in  view  of  the  claims  or  merits  of  the 
various  objects  which  he  is  called  upon  to  support, 
but  in  view  of  the  claims  of  God  upon  him  based  upon 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  blessings  he  has  enjoyed. 
The  portion  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  a  debt  to  God  which  we  can  never  repay.  And  that 
portion  is  to  be  in  proportion  to  our  income — to 
increase  with  our  prosperity,  and  probably  to  decrease 
with  our  adversity,  but  never  to  be  nil  so  long  as  we 
have  any  income  at  all.  "  Every  man  ....  as  God 
hath  prospered  him."  The  Corinthian  Church  was  very 
poor,  but  no  one  was  too  poor  to  give  to  God,  even 
though  it  was  only  out  of  his  poverty.  What  the  pro- 
portion should  be  is  to  be  settled  between  a  man  and 
his  God.  The  ancient  Jew  gave  at  least  a  tenth,  and 
the  Christian  with  his  larger  blessings  may  calculate 
from  that  basis  ;  but  the  main  point  is  that  a 
proportion  be  fixed  upon  between  the  soul  and  God, 
and  that  this  proportion  be  strictly  adhered  to. 

3.  Deliberate.  "  That  there  be  no  gatherings  when 
I  come."  This  apostolic  method  of  giving  saves 
debatings,  misgivings,  grumblings,  and  grudgings.  We 
know  first  of  all  what  we  have  to  give  away  :  that  is 
already  fixed  and  dedicated  to  God.  The  "gathering" 
is  made.  When  we  come  to  the  allocation  and  dis- 
tribution, we  have  no  need  to  discuss  what  we  can 
afford  :  the  only  point  is  what  the  Lord's  portion  can 
afford  in  view  of  the  various  claims  which  the  Lord 
might  regard  with  favour.  We  are  stewards  of  that 
portion,  and  have  to  disburse  it  with  wisdom  and  dis- 
cretion. We  are  saved  in  this  way  from  acting  on 
sudden   impulses  or   under    emotional    appeals.      The 


THIS   GRACE   ALSO  197 

Lord's  portion  has  been  gathered,  and  laid  by  in  store. 
What  we  have  to  do  is  to  spend  it  as  He  would 
approve.  The  conviction  that  we  are  disbursing  the 
Lord's  money  enables  us  to  give  more  carefully  and 
more  prayerfully  than  if  we  thought  we  were  giving 
our  own. 

The  Lord  prospers  them  that  share  with  Him  their 
prosperity.  "  And  He  that  supplieth  seed  to  the  sower 
and  bread  for  food,  shall  supply  and  multiply  your 
seed  for  sowing,  and  increase  the  fruits  of  your  right- 
eousness :  ye  being  enriched  in  everything  unto  all 
liberality,  which  worketh  through  us  thanksgiving  to 
God."  1 

•  2  Cor    ix.   10,   II,  R.V. 


MAN  AND    WOMAN 


199 


"All  that  is  most  distinctive  in  Christian  civilisation  is  bound  up 
with  its  elevation  of  women.  And  not  its  least  distinctive  feature  is  the 
value  which  it  sets  upon  the  virtue  of  chastity,  whether  in  the  virginal  or  in 
the  married  state.  The  conception  idealised  in  the  Madonna  would  have 
been  absolutely  unintelligible  to  the  ancients.  '  Born  of  a  woman '  is 
the  true  account  of  the  modern  '  home,'  with  all  its  moralising  influences. 
We  may  indeed  say  that  the  peculiarity  specially  differentiating  the 
Christian  from  the  pre-Christian  family  is  that  it  is  founded  on  woman, 
not  on  man." — Lilly's  On  J\ighl  and  Wron^f. 

"  That  quality  in  each  sex,  which  is  in  some  measure  alien  to  it, 
should  commonly  be  kept  in  subordination  to  that  which  is  the 
natural  inmate.  The  softness  in  the  man  ought  to  be  latent,  as  the 
waters  lay  hid  in  the  rock  in  Horeb,  and  should  only  issue  at  some 
heavenly  call.  The  courage  in  the  woman  should  sleep,  as  the  light 
sleeps  in  the  pearl." — Hare's  Guesses  at  Truth. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

MAISI  AND    WOMAN 

THE  spiritual  life  of  the  Christian  is  not  a  Hfe  by 
itself.  The  inner  life  of  the  soul  has  to  be 
lived  in  the  outer  life  of  the  world.  It  is  a  false 
spirituality  which  separates  itself  from  the  common 
social  order,  and  attempts  to  create  a  little  ethereal 
world  of  its  own.  It  dwindles  and  dies  of  inanition. 
The  leaven  is  to  be  cast  into  the  lump  :  only  thus  can 
the  qualities  of  the  leaven  declare  themselves :  only 
thus  can  the  lump  be  lightened  and  raised. 

The  sanity  of  Paul  is  attested  by  the  fact  that,  with 
all  his  passion  for  spirituality,  he  never  tried  to  originate 
or  foster  a  spiritual  cult.  Life  in  a  vacuum  had  no 
attraction  for  him.  He  never  coveted  the  wings  of 
angels.  He  was  a  man  among  men,  and  found  himself 
in  a  world  which  God  had  made  for  men — a  world  in 
which  men  may  walk  abroad  in  innocence  and  must 
walk  abroad  in  duty.  Hence  his  protest  against  a 
spurious  spirituality :  "  if  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  let  us 
also  walk  in  the  Spirit."  ^  The  inner  fire  of  the  spirit 
can  only  be  kept  alive  by  being  fed  by  the  fuel  of  the 
ordinary  engagements  and  duties  of  common  life.  The 
social  order  and  the  natural  relations  of  humanity 
provide  a  sphere  in  which  the  new  spirit  finds  its 
»  Gal  V  25. 
aoi 


202     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

realisation ;  whilst  it,  on  the  other  hand,  repays  its 
debt  to  these  by  sublimating  and  sanctifying  them. 

Though  Paul  advocated  no  social  reforms,  he  sowed 
the  seeds  of  many.  There  was  in  him  a  characteristic 
indifference  to  the  social  grievances  of  his  times.  The 
environment  seemed  not  to  trouble  him — scarcely  to 
interest  him.  His  sole  aim  was  to  regenerate  life  at 
its  centre,  and  to  leave  the  circumference  to  be  re- 
fashioned by  the  centrifugal  forces  of  the  new  spirit. 
He  was  not  blind  to  the  social  anomalies  and  disorders 
of  his  day,  but  he  believed  that  they  were  to  be  broken 
up  and  dissipated  from  within.  Hence  he  was  no 
iconoclast,  hammering  down  the  images  to  which  he 
could  not  pay  reverence.  He  preached  Christ,  as  the 
truth  and  reality  of  human  life.  To  his  mind  the 
Gospel  was  the  solvent  of  all  error  of  thought  and 
disorder  of  social  well-being.  And  the  idols  which 
he  could  not  break  by  bars  of  iron  were  left  to  crumble 
and  fall  through  neglect  and  decay. 

No  seed-thought  of  truth  that  is  dropped  into  the 
human  heart  ever  perishes.  There  are  always  some 
choice  souls  which  receive,  fertilise,  and  cultivate  it, 
and  sow  it  again  in  a  higher  state  of  culture  in  other 
souls,  until  the  perfect  flower  is  attained.  And  in 
the  culture  of  the  flower  there  is  also  a  concurrent 
culture  of  the  soil  ;  for  the  seed  must  have  soil  in 
which  it  can  grow.  When  seed  has  been  prepared 
for  soil  and  soil  for  seed,  the  time  of  true  reform  has 
come,  and  the  new  life  finds  its  congenial  environment. 

These  two  facts — the  absence  of  any  attempt  to  set 
up  a  spiritual  cult,  and  the  apparent  indifference  to 
social  reform — have  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  studying 
Paul's   conception  of  the  Christian  life.     His  principle 


MAN   AND   WOMAN  203 

is  that  the  new  life  should  be  lived  in  the  existing 
forms  of  our  social  order  until  it  can  find  or  fashion 
better  by  its  own  inherent  vitality  and  worth.  It  is  for 
that  reason  that  the  Apostle  figures  before  us  as  a 
radical  in  principles  but  a  conservative  in  practice ; 
an  advocate  of  things  as  they  are  in  his  own  day,  but 
the  sower  of  the  seeds  of  silent  revolutions  in  the 
generations  to  come.  The  voice  of  truth  has  often 
to  speak  across  the  ages  into  the  ear  of  the  future. 
It  is  heard  and  not  heard  at  the  moment,  but  the 
day  dawns,  perhaps  long  afterwards,  when  the  signifi- 
cance of  its  message  is  understood,  and  humanity  is 
prepared  to  give  worthy  response. 

Paul  found  himself  in  a  Pagan  world,  whose  ideals 
and  order  were  strangely  inconsistent  with,  and  even 
hostile  to,  the  new  life  which  he  preached  and  fostered. 
The  ideal  of  virtue  in  man  was  low,  the  position  of 
woman  was  degrading,  the  relations  of  man  and 
woman  in  social  life  were  not  favourable  to  the  higher 
life  of  either,  the  marriage  bond  was  so  commonly 
desecrated  as  to  be  shunned  by  the  best  and  despised 
by  the  worst,  the  domestic  relations  of  husband  and 
wife  and  parents  and  children  had  few  of  the  sanctities 
of  affection  which  make  the  home  to  us  the  vestibule 
of  heaven,  the  natural  rights  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
race  were  trampled  under  the  cruel  heel  of  slavery, 
whilst  the  lot  of  the  widow,  the  orphan,  the  weak  and 
the  sufferer  was  unmitigated  by  that  compassion  which 
is  the  foundation  upon  which  so  many  of  the  most 
humane  institutions  of  our  day  are  built.  In  view  of 
such  a  social  order  and  environment  a  man  with  such 
a  message  of  regeneration  might  pardonably  have 
drifted  into  the  aims  and  methods  of  the  revolutionist, 


204    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

intolerant  of  the  social  disorder  of  his  times,  eager 
for  the  quick  results  of  immediate  change.  But  Paul 
had  little  faith  in  the  productiveness  of  the  seed  that 
"  forthwith  "  springs  up  because  it  has  "  no  deepness 
of  earth,"  and,  having  "  no  root,"  as  quickly  withers 
away.^  He  had  that  patience  of  hope  and  that  faith 
in  the  future  which  enable  men  to  wait  till  truth  takes 
deep  root  in  deep  soil. 

When  we  turn  to  consider  Paul's  ethical  teaching 
regarding  man  and  woman,  it  is  important  to  bear  in 
mind  his  method  of  reform  from  within  by  infusing  the 
new  spirit  into  common  everyday  life. 

Take  first  his  teaching  regarding  moral  purity.  In 
the  Pagan  world  chastity  was  a  virtue  that  was  scarcely 
even  expected  of  men.  The  ideals  and  conditions  of 
society  were  unfavourable  to  its  cultivation.  The  arro- 
gant sense  of  the  superiority  of  the  male,  the  inferior 
domestic  and  social  position  of  woman,  the  preva- 
lent possession  of,  and  power  over,  slaves,  the  ethical 
worthlessness  of  the  public  games,  subsisted  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  chastity  of  men  was  either  not 
demanded,  or  demanded  only  as  a  counsel  of  perfection. 
The  remarkable  thing  is,  that,  in  view  of  all  these 
hindrances  to  the  spiritual  life,  the  Apostle  scarcely 
raises  any  question  of  social  reform  or  hints  at  any 
remedies  of  social  grievances.  He  takes  a  longer  but 
quicker  way  to  reach  his  goal :  he  proclaims  positives 
rather  than  declaims  negatives. 

Some  of  the  Corinthians  seem  to  have  argued  that 

the   fleshly   appetite   had   to   be   satisfied   just   as    the 

appetite  for   food.     It   was  natural    and   imperative  in 

its    demands.      It     is    an    old    argument    which    still 

>  Matt  xiii.  5,  6. 


MAN    AND   WOMAN  205 

maintains  its  ground  in  the  mind  of  the  natural  man, 
though  it  may  seldom  be  stated  so  bluntly.  It  was, 
however,  at  the  very  foundation  of  Pagan  life,  and 
Paul  struck  at  it  indirectly  and  effectively  by  proclaiming 
the  spiritual  dignity  of  the  body. 

Apparently  Paul's  broad  maxim,  "  All  things  are 
lawful  unto  me,"  ^  was  being  wrested  in  support  of  the 
low  standard  of  Pagan  morals,  especially  among  men. 
Whilst  maintaining  the  validity  of  his  maxim  of 
Christian  liberty,  Paul  objects  to  the  false  application 
of  it.  In  the  sphere  of  things  which  are  morally  in- 
different, or  good  or  bad  in  relations,  "  all  things  "  may 
be  "  lawful  unto  me."  These  things,  such  as  eating 
meat  offered  to  idols,  lie  on  the  ethical  borderland,  and 
may  be  indulged  in  or  refrained  from  according  to 
circumstances.  Rights  may  be  waived  without  being 
renounced.  But  the  appetite  of  the  flesh  is  different.  It 
concerns  a  man's  person,  of  which  the  body,  as  the  organ 
of  the  soul,  is  an  integral  part.  Christian  liberty  can 
never  degenerate  into  licence  and  lust.  "  All  things  are 
lawful  for  me,  but  I  will  not  be  brought  under  the  power 
of  any :  "  ^  for,  if  I  am,  then  my  liberty  is  lost.  The 
liberty  of  lust  is  suicidal,  because  the  E^'o,  the  person- 
ality, the  whole  man,  becomes  the  slave  and  is  "  brought 
under  the  power  "  of  a  passion  of  which  he  should  be 
master.  A  man  is  at  liberty  to  be  free,  but  he  is  never 
at  liberty  to  sell  his  freedom  and  become  a  slave 
to  anything  which  obliterates  his  freedom. 

But  Paul  goes  farther  than  this.    Eating  and  drinking 

are  not  on  an  equality  with  fleshly  appetite.     These  are 

only  temporary  arrangements  for  bodily  sustenance,  and 

may  be  in  themselves  non-moral  ;  this,  on  the  other  hand, 

*  I  Cor.  VI.  12.  '  Ibid. 


2o6     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

has  eternal  significance  and  is  a  moral  act  which  affects 
the  whole  personality.  "  Meats  for  the  belly  and  the 
belly  for  meats "  is  a  necessity  of  our  physical  life  ; 
but  the  necessity  passes  away :  "  God  shall  destroy  both 
it  and  them."^  The  body  itself,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
desecrated  by  unchastity,  for  it  is  part  of  the  eternal 
human  personality  which  is  redeemed  by  God,  and 
over  which  He  exercises  the  rights  and  duties  of  Lord- 
ship. "  Now  the  body  is  not  for  fornication,  but  for 
the  Lord  ;  and  the  Lord  for  the  body."  ^ 

Nor  is  this  all.  Paul  cannot  dissociate  the  body  from 
the  spirit.  He  cannot  conceive  of  them  as  separated 
from  each  other.  The  body  is  the  organ  of  the  spirit, 
the  spirit  the  informing  element  of  the  body  ;  both 
make  the  unity  of  the  human  personality.  And  both 
share  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  redemption.  For, 
as  the  spirit  of  man  requires  the  body  for  the  expression 
of  its  life,  so,  when  the  spirit  is  renewed  by  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  body  is  still  needed 
as  the  medium  of  its  activity,  and  shares  in  the  Christian 
sanctification.  "  Know  ye  not  that  your  bodies  are  the 
members  of  Christ  ?  Shall  I  then  take  the  members 
of  Christ,  and  make  them  the  members  of  an  harlot  ? 
God  forbid  I  "  ^  The  body  thus  becomes  "  the  temple 
of  the  holy  Ghost,"  ^  and  is  no  longer  our  own.  It  is 
Christ's  by  right  of  purchase,^  and  is  exalted  to  a 
privilege  unheard  of  in  the  Pagan  world — the  privilege 
of  participation  even  in  the  Resurrection  :  "  God  hath 
both  raised  up  the  Lord,  and  will  also  raise  up  us 
by  His  own  power."  *  It  is  because  Paul  believes  that 
our  moral  and  spiritual  destiny  cannot  be  attained  apart 

*  I  Cor,  vi.  13.  ^  Ibid.  15.  ^  Ibid.  19. 

*  Ibid,  20  '  Ibid.  I  it 


MAN   AND   WOMAN  207 

from  the  sanctification  of  the  body,  as  the  organ  of 
the  spiritual  Hfe,  that  he  lays  upon  men  the  obligation 
of  purity,  and  calls  them  to  a  higher  and  more  com- 
prehensive spirituality  which  embraces  and  sublimates 
their  whole  personality  :  "  therefore  glorify  God  in  your 
body." 

This  protest  against  the  profanation  of  the  body 
by  unchastity  was  the  first  great  step  towards  the 
moral  elevation  of  man  to  that  standard  of  purity  which 
had  always  been  more  or  less  exacted  of  woman — not 
so  much  as  an  obligation  which  she  owed  to  herself 
and  God,  as  an  obligation  which  she  owed  to  man 
as  her  lord  and  master.  Here,  however,  Paul  makes 
no  distinction  between  the  ethical  ideal  of  man  and  of 
woman.  Purity  is  the  moral  duty  and  destiny  of  both, 
and  for  the  same  reasons. 

But  Christianity  provided  new  and  higher  sanctions 
to  the  crowning  grace  of  womanly  virtue.  Woman  is  no 
longer  regarded  as  a  mere  thing,  a  mere  appanage 
of  man.  She  also  is  a  person,  and  has  her  rights  and 
duties  before  God  and  apart  from  man.  The  virtue 
which  men  exacted  of  her,  for  selfish  reasons,  God 
claims  on  purer  ethical  grounds.  Chastity  is  not  her 
doom,  but  her  destiny  ;  not  the  badge  of  her  inferiority 
to  man,  but  the  sign  of  her  equality  and  dignity  in 
the  eyes  of  God. 

The  emancipation  of  woman  from  personal  degrada- 
tion and  social  disabilities  was  not  argued  by  Paul : 
it  was  assumed.  His  great  pronouncement  that  "  there 
is  .  .  .  neither  male  nor  female  :  for  ye  are  all  one 
in  Christ  Jesus  "  ^  was  the  formulation  of  a  principle 
which  even  he  did  not  seek  in  his  day  to  push 
1  Gal  iii.  28. 


2C8    CULTURE   OF  THE  SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

to  all  its  logical  conclusions.  It  provided,  however,  the 
motive  and  the  inspiration  for  the  complete  emanci- 
pation of  woman  from  every  hindrance  to  the  exercise 
of  her  womanly  rights  and  the  development  of  her 
womanly  nature.  It  proclaimed  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  and  Ideal  of  the  woman  as  of  the  man  ;  that 
her  spiritual  duties  and  privileges  are  her  own  personal 
concern  with  which  no  man  can  intermeddle  ;  that  every 
avenue  of  spiritual  culture  is  open  to  her ;  that  dis- 
tinctions of  sex  have  no  place  in  the  domain  of  her 
life  as  a  spiritual  being.  All  this  was  at  once  evident 
on  the  face  of  the  Apostle's  great  declaration ;  but 
there  was  more  latent  in  it,  which  time  and  experience 
alone  could  evolve.  Her  new  relation  to  God  implied 
a  new  relation  to  man  as  a  social  being.  Beneath 
the  solvent  of  this  principle  of  spiritual  equality,  her 
inferiority  and  disqualifications  in  social  position  and 
in  the  eye  of  the  law  were  destined  to  disappear,  till, 
as  a  person  in  herself,  she  was  free  to  live  her  own 
proper  life  and  fulfil  her  own  proper  destiny  as  a 
woman. 

But  as  a  woman.  A  woman  is  not  a  potential  man  : 
she  is  of  herself  a  creation,  with  an  honour  and  glory 
of  her  own.  The  woman  and  the  man  may  reach  the 
same  high  destiny  in  Christ  Jesus,  but  they  are  not 
ordained  to  travel  along  the  same  lines  in  reaching  it. 
The  facts  of  creation  are  not  forgotten  or  annulled  by 
the  facts  of  redemption.  "  God  created  man  in  His 
own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  He  him  ;  male 
and  female  created  He  them."  ^  They  are  alike  in  their 
spiritual  nature  and  in  their  spiritual  destiny ;  they 
are  "  one  in  Christ  Jesus,"  as  they  are  "  one  in  the 
'  Gen.  i.  27. 


MAN   AND   WOMAN  209 

image  of  God  "  :  one  in  the  beginning  and  one  in  the 
end  ;  but  they  are  not  the  same.  They  are,  and  ever 
on  earth  must  remain,  separate  creations — "  male  and 
female."  Alongside  of  man  woman  is  equal,  but  not 
identical.  Her  true  emancipation  does  not  lie  in  the 
direction  of  striving  to  be  a  man.  Christ,  not  man, 
is  her  ideal ;  and  her  true  ideal  is  reached  by  the  full 
and  free  development  of  her  nature  as  a  woman. 

For,  after  all,  the  excellencies  of  a  woman  are  not  the 
same  as  those  of  a  man.  Sometimes  her  excellencies 
are  to  be  found  in  the  very  limitations  of  her  nature. 
She  cannot  exercise  authority  and  governance  in  great 
affairs  as  he  ;  but  she  can  rule  in  her  own  sphere  with 
more  absolute  authority  and  win  more  implicit  obedi- 
ence than  he  by  the  gracious  tyranny  of  her  love. 
The  courage  of  a  man  is  not  that  of  a  woman.  He 
will  die  for  a  cause,  she  for  a  person.  But  the  tender- 
ness of  a  man  has  never  the  same  touch,  the  same 
pathos,  the  same  dove-like  meekness,  as  that  of  a 
woman.  In  matters  of  taste  her  discernment  is  un- 
erring :  in  matters  of  judgment  his.  The  decisions  of 
a  woman's  instincts  are  just  and  final,  her  flavour  for 
the  goodness  and  rightness  of  things  is  more  delicate 
and  keen  than  that  of  a  man.  She  may  have  greater 
limitations  in  her  power  of  ratiocination,  but  her  defect 
is  also  her  strength  :  unlike  a  man,  she  seldom  argues 
herself  into  error,  or  discovers  apologies  for  wrong.  In 
great  subjects  of  thought  she  is  deficient  in  power  of 
synthesis  and  analysis  :  she  is  seldom  a  discoverer  in 
the  sciences — her  instruments  of  mind  are  too  delicate 
and  are  adjusted  for  other  undertakings.  What  she  can 
do,  however,  she  does  with  more  thoroughness  than 
a  man,  and  in  things  for  which  she  is  equally  adapted 

14 


2IO    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

she  often  excels.  She  becomes  more  absorbed,  more 
whole-hearted,  in  her  devotion  to  a  study,  an  art,  or 
a  profession.  But  here  also  her  excellencies  may  prove 
to  be  her  limitations.  She  cannot  usually  sustain 
her  interest  in,  and  devotion  to,  more  than  one  great 
object  at  a  time :  she  cannot  detach  herself  so  easily 
as  a  man  and  pass  from  one  thing  to  another,  from 
one  sphere  of  life  into  a  different  sphere.  Her  mind 
and  heart  cannot  readily  be  separated  :  they  go  together 
and  go  solid  as  one.  A  man  may  be  devoted  to  an 
absorbing  study,  and  yet  shut  off  his  interest  in  it  for 
a  time  and  take  up  another.  He  may  be  a  great 
scientist  in  the  laboratory,  whilst  an  excellent  husband 
and  devoted  father  at  home.  A  woman  lives  for  one 
thing  at  a  time,  and  is  wholly  possessed  by  it.  She 
must  be  what  she  is,  and  do  what  she  does,  all  in  all, 
or  not  at  all.  But  this  limitation  is  her  excellency  in 
other  directions.  It  gives  purity  and  strength  to  her 
love,  whole-heartedness  to  her  devotion,  tenacity  to  her 
grasp  of  all  matters  of  truth  and  righteousness.  There 
is  thus  an  original  and  organic  distinction  between  the 
sexes,  which  no  arguments  or  comparisons  can  ob- 
literate. The  perfect  ideal  of  man  is  not  found  in  male 
or  in  female,  but  in  both.  Each  has  proper  qualities 
which  are  denied  to  the  other,  and  each  in  the  other 
finds  the  complement  which  makes  completeness.  The 
old  account  of  creation  embodies  an  eternal  truth  :  "  In 
the  day  that  God  created  man,  in  the  likeness  of  God 
made  He  him  ;  Male  and  female  created  He  them  ; 
and  blessed  them,  and  called  their  name  Adam,  in  the 
day  when  they  were  created."  ^  Adam  is  man^  not 
a  man.  He  is  one,  yet  a  double  one.  Man  is  male 
'  Gen.  V.  I,  2. 


MAN   AND   WOMAN  211 

and  female,  and  is  only  perfect  when  the  two  per- 
sonalities blend  into  one. 

Paul  was  not  blind  to  the  fact  that  in  his  time  there 
was  a  tendency  unduly  to  emphasise  the  woman's  one- 
ness with  man  in  spiritual  rights  and  privileges,  and 
as  unduly  to  minimise  the  distinctions  and  differences 
which  are  indissoluble  from  the  nature  of  both.  It 
showed  itself  in  small  things,  not  without  great  signi- 
ficance— in  the  aping  of  masculinity  of  dress  and 
behaviour.  In  the  city  of  Corinth  the  licence  of  women 
acknowledged  no  bounds.  It  was  known  to  be  one 
of  the  most  immoral  cities  in  Greece.  Paul  appre- 
hended that  to  break  through  the  accepted  customs 
of  modest  dress  and  behaviour  would  bring  with  it 
grave  moral  danger.  To  cast  aside  the  form  is  often 
the  first  step  in  destroying  the  spirit  which  finds 
expression  in  it.  Some  of  the  Christian  women,  in 
view  of  their  new  status  in  the  Church,  endeavoured  at 
once  to  usurp  the  style  of  dress  and  the  functions  of 
men.  Paul  offered  no  objection  to  women  praying 
and  prophesying  in  certain,  probably  smaller  and  more 
private,  meetings  of  Christian  people.  Indeed,  he 
assumes  it  to  be  a  recognised  custom  for  a  woman  to 
pray  or  prophesy  under  the  influence  of  a  sudden 
inspiration.  But  he  does  object  to  her  taking  such 
part  in  an  assembly  "  with  her  head  uncovered "  like 
a  man.^  She  was  unsexing  herself  and  asserting  a  false 
equality  with  men. 

The  way  of  true  emancipation  was  not  to  be  sought  in 

this  fashion.     And,  although  some  of  the  reasons  given 

by  Paul  are  somewhat  archaic,  his  contention  has  eternal 

validity.     The  dress  of  a  woman  is  the  symbol  of  her 

*  I  Cor.  xi.  5. 


212     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

sense  of  womanhood.  To  renounce  the  dress  is  to 
renounce  her  womanly  distinctiveness  and  proper  glory. 
To  him  it  indicated  a  want  of  refinement  of  feeling,  of  self- 
reverence,  and  of  modest  reserve,  which  are  the  expected 
characteristics  of  the  feminine  nature.  The  unveiled 
head  of  a  woman  in  a  public  Christian  assembly  might 
not  be  wrong  in  itself,  but  in  those  days  in  Corinth,  and 
under  such  circumstances,  it  argued  that  the  woman, 
who  thus  claimed  the  right  to  dress  as  a  man,  broke 
away  from  the  acknowledged  canons  of  feminine 
modesty. 

There  were  some  also  who  usurped  the  functions  of 
men  in  the  regular  meetings  of  the  church  for  worship, 
by  playing  the  role  of  public  preachers  or  teachers. 
Paul's  prohibition  of  this  feminine  assertion  of  equality 
with  men  may  sound  strange  and  reactionary  to  us 
now,  but  in  the  interests  of  decorum,  and  of  good 
order,  in  society  and  in  the  church  of  his  own  time  it 
was  justifiable  and  wise.  Women  in  those  days  took 
no  part  in  public  affairs.  Their  voice  was  not  heard 
in  public  assembly.  They  kept  aside  from  the  political 
strife  of  tongues.  Even  in  the  dramas  of  the  Greek 
stage  a  woman  found  no  place.  Her  part  was  repre- 
sented by  men.  In  itself  there  might  be  nothing  wrong 
in  women  preaching  and  teaching  in  the  church,  but 
what  is  not  wrong  in  itself  may  be  wrong  in  relation 
to  the  times  and  the  circumstances  in  which  the  right 
is  asserted.  It  might  be  lawful  in  itself,  but  it  was 
inexpedient,  for  it  shock  2d  even  heathen  society  with 
its  traditional  notions  of  female  propriety.  It  might 
be  lawful  in  itself,  but  it  was  not  edifying,  for  it  brought 
the  Church  into  unnecessary  criticism  and  disrepute  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world.     Nor  was  it  necessary  to  the 


MAN   AND   WOMAN  213 

culture  of  the  spiritual  life  of  women  that  they  should 
assert  themselves  by  this  assumption  of  masculine 
functions.  It  was  no  hardship  to  their  sex  to  keep 
the  head  covered  or  to  remain  silent  in  the  house  of 
God.  Every  means  of  grace  was  secured  to  them,  and 
the  right  to  fulfil  all  their  Christian  duties  and  to  enjo}' 
all  their  Christian  privileges  was  conserved. 

Paul  advances  three  reasons  for  this  prohibition.  It 
is  in  the  interests  of  order.  Why  should  women  assert 
themselves  thus  in  the  Church  at  Corinth,  in  a  city 
in  which  womanly  reserve  was  already  brought  into 
evil  repute  ?  Tt  was  not  the  custom  in  other  Churches. 
Why  should  the  women  in  Corinth  introduce  this 
Corinthian  boldness  into  the  Church  of  Christ?  In 
Corinth  especially  the  women  should  take  heed  that 
their  good  be  not  evil  spoken  of.  "  As  in  all  churches 
of  the  saints,  let  your  women  keep  silence  in  the 
churches  :  for  it  is  not  permitted  unto  them  to  speak."  ^ 

It  was  also  in  the  interests  of  decency.  There  were 
women  in  Corinth,  as  in  other  Greek  and  Roman 
cities,  who  mingled  freely  with  men  in  public  life, 
and  were  known  and  praised  for  their  brilliancy  of 
wit,  and  readiness  of  speech,  and  courage  of  opinion 
But  "it  was  only  the  women  recognised  as  unchaste 
who  were  permitted  to  frequent  public  lectures,  and 
to  be  on  terms  of  equal  association  with  artists  and 
scholars."  ^  For  a  Christian  woman,  therefore,  in  a  city 
like  Corinth,  to  assert  the  right  of  preaching  and 
teaching  in  public  assembly  was  not  only  a  breach 
of  order,  but  of  decency.  She  thus  identified  herself 
with    the   style    of    behaviour    which    prevailed   in    a 

*  I  Cor.  xiv.  33,  34.     So  Meyer  and  Godet  in  loco. 
■  Storr's  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity. 


214     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

class  of  female  society  from  which  the  women  of  the 
Church  should  wish  to  be  farthest  removed.  Indeed, 
in  Paul's  days  publicity  and  immodesty  were  almost 
synonymous  in  the  conduct  of  women  ;  and  although 
the  Apostle  would  not  restrain  women  from  prophesying 
and  praying  in  an  assembly  of  Christians  when  im- 
peratively moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  felt  that, 
in  view  of  the  social  code  of  honour  of  his  times, 
"  it  is  a  shame  for  women  to  speak  in  the  church."  ^ 
For  men  and  women  alike  he  advocated  restraint,  and 
respect  for  all  established  customs.  "  Let  all  things 
be  done  decently  and  in  order."  ^ 

But,  apart  from  these  considerations,  was  it  in  the 
interests  of  the  spiritual  life  of  women  that  they  should 
assert  their  equality  with  men  in  this  fashion  ?  That 
depended  upon  the  spirit  and  the  motives  of  those 
who  thus  asserted  themselves.  The  mere  assertion 
of  rights  is  not  in  itself  a  duty.  It  is  often  a  higher 
duty  to  forego  the  assertion  of  them.  If  it  were  in 
the  spirit  of  mere  .r^^-aggrandisement  and  i-^^-assertion, 
if  it  were  with  the  motive  of  testifying  their  equality 
with  men,  and  of  obliterating  the  distinctions  which 
obtained  between  the  sexes,  there  can  be  no  question 
that  Paul  was  right,  and  acted  wisely  in  the  interests 
of  the  spiritual  life  of  women  themselves  when  he 
advised  them  not  to  break  through  the  established 
code  of  propriety  of  their  day. 

The  question,  however,  arises  :  Is  this  prohibition 
valid  in  the  present  day  ?  Should  women  still  be  denied 
the  right  to  teach  in  public  Christian  assemblies  ?  The 
answer  to  that  question  depends  upon  the  answer  which 
we  are  prepared  to  give  to  other  questions.  Is  it 
*  I  Cor.  xiv.  35  »  Ibid  40. 


MAN   AND  WOMAN  215 

consistent  with  present-day  conceptions  of  ofder  in 
society  and  in  the  Church  ?  Is  it  subversive  of  present- 
day  canons  of  decency,  modesty,  and  refinement?  Is 
it  demanded  as  a  mere  right  of  the  sex,  or  as  a  duty 
from  the  non-fulfilment  of  which  the  Church  and 
women  themselves  may  suffer  in  the  culture  of  the 
spiritual  life?  If,  as  we  think,  Paul's  prohibition  is 
an  accommodation  to  the  ethical  and  social  standard 
of  his  times,  rather  than  an  absolute  interdict,  the 
question  is  not  so  much  whether  the  right  should 
be  conceded,  as  whether  it  should  be  exercised.  All 
we  need  say  is  that  the  right  has  been,  and  is 
being  exercised,  not  without  respect  to  decency  and 
order,  and  under  the  strong  compulsion  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  with  a  single  eye  to  the  extension  of 
Christ's  kingdom  and  the  edifying  of  His  Church,  by 
many  women  in  the  Salvation  Army  and  in  the 
Churches  of  Christ  at  home  and  abroad.  But  a  general 
pronouncement  or  movement  in  this  direction  is  not  to 
be  forced  by  any  abstract  agitation  of  women's  rights 
on  the  part  of  those  outside.  We  believe  that  the 
Church  will  never  deny  the  right  to  women,  when  the 
exercise  of  it  becomes  an  imperative  duty  in  view  of 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  Church  and  of  the  world  at 
any  given  time.  Paul's  general  attitude  towards  all 
such  questions  should  never  be  lost  sight  of:  that 
changes  in  the  forms  of  conduct  which  outdistance  the 
life  of  the  spirit  are  always  dangerous  and  seldom 
permanent ;  that  the  spiritual  life  does  not  subsist  on 
the  assertion  of  abstract  rights,  but  upon  i;he  performance 
of  necessary  duties ;  that  great  principles  may  be 
hazarded  gratuitously  by  the  irritating  insistence  upon 
trifling   reforms ;  that    all   genuine   reforms   are   to   be 


2i6     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

secured  by  the  inner  movement  of  the  Spirit ;  and  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  a  matter  of  meat  and 
drink,  dress,  or  speech,  "  but  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  he  that  in  these  things 
serveth  Christ  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  approved  of 

men."i 

'  Rom.  xiv.  17,  18. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  IN  RELATION  TO  MARRIAGE 
AND  CELIBACY 


"Celibate,  like  the  fly  in  the  heart  of  an  apple,  dwells  in  perpetual 
sweetness,  but  sits  alone,  and  is  confined  and  dies  in  singularity  ;  but 
marriage,  like  the  useful  bee,  builds  a  house  and  gathers  sweetness  from 
every  flower,  and  labours  and  unites  into  societies  and  republics,  and  sends 
out  colonies,  and  feeds  the  world  with  delicacies,  and  obeys  its  king  and 
keeps  order,  and  exercises  many  virtues,  and  promotes  the  interest  of 
mankind." — Jeremy  Taylor's  Sermon  on  The  Marriage  Ring. 

"  We  must  consider,  that  nothing  is  more  dangerous  than  to  unite  two 
persons  so  closely  in  all  their  interests  and  concerns,  as  man  and  wife, 
without  rendering  the  union  entire  and  total.  The  least  possibility  of 
a  separate  interest  must  be  the  source  of  endless  quarrels  and  suspicions. 
The  wife,  not  secure  of  her  establishment,  will  still  be  driving  some 
separate  end  or  project  ;  and  the  husband's  selfishness,  being  accompanied 
with  more  power,  may  be  still  more  dangerous." — Hume's  Essays. 


218 


CHAPTER    XV 

THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  IN  RELATION  TO  MARRIAGE 
AND  CELIBACY 

WE  have  seen  how  Paul's  conception  of  the 
relative  positions  and  rights  of  man  and  woman 
affected  certain  questions  of  social  purity  and  order. 
His  view  of  the  human  body,  as  sharing  in  the  re- 
demption of  Jesus  Christ,  provided  a  hew  basis  and 
standard  of  chastity  both  for  man  and  for  woman. 
His  elevation  of  woman  as  a  substantive  personality 
before  God,  with  the  same  privileges  and  rights  as 
man  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  spiritual  life, 
started  the  movement  in  favour  of  the  emancipation 
of  woman  from  all  her  disadvantages  and  disabilities. 
This  new  leaven,  however,  was  not  without  danger. 
It  began  to  ferment  into  social  discontent  and  unrest, 
and  threatened  to  produce  premature  changes  in  the 
standard  of  womanly  decorum. 

But  whilst  Paul's  assertion  of  the  sanctification  of 
the  body  and  of  the  abolition  of  the  inequalities  of  male 
and  female  in  Christ  Jesus  laid  the  same  obligations  to 
social  purity  upon  man  and  woman  and  extinguished 
the  distinctions  between  the  sexes  in  the  sphere  of  the 
spiritual  life,  it  was  pushed  to  other  conclusions  which 
required   to  be  carefully  guarded  against.     The  purity 

319 


220    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

which  Paul  advocated  was  in  danger  of  being  construed 
so  as  to  glorify  and  necessitate  celibacy,  whilst  the 
disappearance  of  difference  between  man  and  woman 
in  Christ  Jesus  seemed  to  cast  a  slur  upon  the  dignity 
and  the  holiness  of  the  marriage-bond.  In  the  attempt 
to  adjust  the  claims  of  the  new  life  in  Christ  to  the  old 
order  of  things  there  were  many  blunders  and  excesses 
which  had  to  be  avoided.  It  was  not  easy  to  see  how 
the  changed  life  could  be  lived  without  a  changed 
environment  ;  how  the  new  wine  could  be  poured  into, 
and  preserved  in,  the  old  wine-skins.  It  is  in  handling 
questions  of  this  kind,  however,  that  the  Apostle  appears 
at  his  best  as  a  Christian  casuist  of  the  first  order  ;  for  he 
had  not  only  to  preach  the  Gospel,  but  to  see  that  it 
was  not  put  into  practice  along  false  lines. 

The  question  of  the  relative  worth  of  single  and 
married  life,  in  view  of  the  claims  of  spirituality  on 
Christian  men  and  women,  was  raised,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  very  early  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 
It  reached  an  acute  stage  in  the  city  of  Corinth,  in 
which  the  converts  were  surrounded  by  a  type  of  Pagan 
society  which  made  the  discussion  keen  and  inevitable. 
The  Christians  of  that  city  saw  how  the  body  was 
abused  and  the  spirit  restrained  and  crushed  by  the 
licentious  manners  which  prevailed.  All  around  them 
the  marriage-bond  had  failed  as  a  preservative  and 
guarantee  of  chastity.  In  their  fresh  enthusiasm  for, 
and  devotion  to,  the  spiritual  life  it  was  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  they  discounted  the  value  of  marriage 
as  an  institution  by  which  the  natural  life  is  guarded 
and  the  wellbeing  of  society  conserved.  It  seemed  to 
many  of  them  that  the  spiritual  life  could  only  be  lived 
when  dissociated  from  the  life  of  nature,  and  that  the 


MARRIAGE   AND   CELIBACY  221 

bond  of  marriage  should  not  be  entered  into,  and  should 
even  be  dissolved,  by  those  who  would  prove  true  to 
their  high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus.  To  some,  on  the 
other  hand,  these  extreme  views  appeared  to  be  sub- 
versive of  social  order  and  Christian  sanity.  Nature 
had  her  claims  alongside  those  of  grace :  Christians 
had  obligations  to  society  as  well  as  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  It  was  felt  that,  though  these  claims  were  difficult 
to  harmonise  in  the  present  emergency,  they  were  not 
essentially  antagonistic. 

It  was  because  of  this  dispute  in  the  Corinthian 
Church  that  Paul  was  appealed  to  by  letter  for  his 
guidance,^  and  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  his 
judgment  on  the  subject  is  given  in  view  of  the 
condition  of  social  and  domestic  life  in  the  city  from 
which  the  letter  emanated.  His  teaching  on  the  relative 
worth  of  celibacy  and  marriage  is  therefore  incidental, 
though  it  contains  outstanding  principles  which  are 
valuable  for  all  time. 

What  does  he  say  regarding  celibacy  ?  Is  it  a 
Christian's  duty  to  abstain  from  marriage?  Is  he 
justified  in  remaining  single  ?  Is  celibacy  the  only  form 
of  life  consistent  with  true  spirituality  ?  These  are 
questions  which  cannot  be  answered  by  a  simple  yes  or 
no.  They  need  careful  balancing  of  assertion  and 
reservation,  the  casting  of  subtle  qualifications  now  into 
this  side  of  the  scale  and  now  into  that. 

Two  things  are  to  be  noted  as  outstanding  amidst 
all  that  he  adduces  in  favour  of  single  life.  The  one 
is  that  his  preference  for  single  life  is  not  based  upon  any 
consideration  of  affording  greater  licence  or  laxity  of 
morals,  or  upon  any  antipathy  to  the  restraints  of  the 
'  I  Cor.  vii.  I. 


222     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

marriage-bond.  His  advocacy  of  single  life  is  on  the 
ground  of  the  greater  opportunities  which  it  offers  for 
devotion  to  the  culture  of  spirituality.  Celibacy  is 
justified  when  it  is  adopted  as  a  means  to  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  body,  never  as  a  means  to  its  desecration. 
It  is  not  in  itself  holy  ;  it  may  be  a  means  of  holiness. 
When  it  is  not  a  means  of  holiness,  its  ethical  sanction, 
so  far  as  Christianity  is  concerned,  is  lost.  Much  of 
the  praise  of  single  life  sung  in  the  present  day  comes 
from  motives  diametrically  opposed  to  those  of  the 
Apostle.  The  value  of  celibacy  depends  upon  its 
motive.     The  celibate  may  be  a  sinner  or  a  saint. 

The  other  thing  to  be  noted  is  that  Paul,  viewing 
celibacy  as  the  vow  of  perfect  abstinence  and  chastity, 
regards  it  as  a  calling.  It  is  not  a  mode  of  life  which 
every  one  can  adopt,  and  therefore  can  never  become 
a  rule  of  life,  even  for  Christian  men  and  women.  It 
may  be  the  vocation  of  the  few,  but  it  never  can  be, 
and  never  was  intended  to  be,  the  practice  of  the  many. 
Indeed,  the  Apostle  regards  it  as  a  "  gift  of  God  "  ^  ; 
but  it  is  not  the  only  gift.  One  may  be  called  to  marry, 
another  not ;  but  the  path  of  holiness  is  open  to  each 
in  the  exercise  of  his  gift ;  for  there  is  a  chastity  in 
marriage  as  in  celibacy,  and  the  one  is  as  virtuous 
as  the  other.  Paul  does  not  say  that  single  life  is  holier 
than  married  life :  both  are  becoming  to  Christians,  and 
Christians  may  be  called  to  either.  In  this  he  followed 
the  teaching  of  his  Master,  who  regarded  the  married 
life  as  the  normal  life.  "  Have  ye  not  read,  that  He 
which  made  them  at  the  beginning  made  them  male 
and  female,  and  said,  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave 
father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife ;  and 
'  1  Cor.  vii.  7. 


MARRIAGE   AND   CELIBACY  223 

they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  ?  "  ^  and  yet  there  are 
those  who  have  the  special  gift  for  the  celibate  life,  and 
who,  because  of  that  gift,  "  have  made  themselves 
eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake."  ^  Celibacy, 
therefore,  is  only  advocated  as  a  mode  of  life  to  be 
adopted  for  the  sake  of  holiness  by  those  who  have 
the  gift  of  living  up  to  the  stringency  of  its  claims ;  but 
the  same  ends  of  the  spiritual  life  may  be  reached  by 
those  who  fall  in  with  the  existing  institution  of  marriage. 
In  other  words,  both  modes  of  life  are  justified  as  con- 
sistent with  the  claims  of  spirituality  ;  and  whilst  no  one 
should  adopt  the  former  unless  his  inner  life  can  sustain 
the  high  demands  which  it  imposes,  no  one  should  shun 
the  latter  as  interfering  with  his  fidelity  to  the  Lord. 

Why,  then,  does  Paul  manifest  a  certain  preference 
for  celibacy  both  in  his  teaching  and  in  his  personal 
life  ?     There  are  three  reasons. 

The  first  is  prudential  :  "  by  reason  of  the  present 
distress."  ^  It  was  a  time  of  great  struggle  and  tension. 
The  new  life  had  to  contemplate  an  acute  conflict  with 
the  old.  In  cities  like  Corinth,  in  which  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  find  a  social  environment  suitable  to  the 
Christian,  the  policy  of  thoroughness  was  commendable 
to  those  who  could  carry  it  out.  The  struggle  in  adapting 
the  spiritual  life  to  existing  institutions  would  in- 
evitably lead  to  great  mental  strain  and  grave  moral 
danger.  These  were  incidental  to  the  beginning  of 
the  new  regime,  and  might  pass  away  when  the  life 
of  the  world  had  become  more  saturated  by  the  spirit, 
and  more  conformable  to  the  life,  of  the  Christian  ;  but, 
in  the  interests  of  the  first  concern  of  holiness,  the 
single  life  was  to  be  preferred. 

»  Matt.  xix.  4,  5.  "  Ibid.  12.  ^  \  Cor.  vii.  26,  R.V. 


224    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

The  second  reason  was  providential :  "  the  time  is 
short " '  :  "  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away."  ' 
In  view  of  the  Lord's  expected  coming  and  of  the  end 
of  the  present  dispensation,  it  is  not  worth  while  entering 
into  new  engagements  and  becoming  entangled  with 
fresh  obligations.  Our  first  duty  is  to  keep  spiritually 
detached.  The  single  may  keep  as  they  are.  They 
should  not  concern  themselves  with  cares  and  duties 
which  are  only  for  a  time.  For  the  same  reason,  they 
that  have  wives  should  be  "  as  though  they  had  none  ; 
and  they  that  weep,  as  though  they  wept  not  ;  and 
they  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and 
they  that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not."  ^  Chris- 
tians were  to  sit  loose  in  the  world  :  everything  was 
to  be  regarded  as  ad  interim.  They  were  to  be  ready 
to  strike  their  tents  any  morning,  and  to  move  on, 
unencumbered  by  regrets  and  interests  and  cares.  Here, 
again,  everything  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  interests 
of  the  spiritual  life.  That  is  the  eternal  principle 
involved,  and  the  application  was  wise  in  view  of  the 
expectation  of  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Lord.  If  it  be 
asked  whether  Paul's  teaching  on  this  point  is  still  valid, 
the  answer  is,  that  the  principle  remains.  We  must 
learn  to  be  spiritually  detached,  to  keep  the  spiritual 
life  clear  of  all  obligations  and  distractions  that  would 
hinder  its  development ;  but  the  application  may  take 
a  different  form  with  the  postponement  of  the  expecta- 
tion. We  may  "  use  this  world  "  ;  it  is  not  wrong  in 
itself  to  marry,  or  weep,  or  rejoice,  or  buy,  or  possess  ; 
but  we  must  so  use  it  "  as  not  abusing  it,"*  for  it  also 
may  be  made  to  the  Christian  a  minister  of  holiness. 
The  last  reason  may  be  called  provisional.  In  the 
*  I  Cor.  vii.  29.         »  Ibid.  31.  ^  Ibid.  29,  30.         *  Ibid.  31. 


MARRIAGE   AND   CELIBACY  225 

first  days,  as  indeed,  to  some  extent,  in  all  days,  it  was 
necessary  that  some  should  devote  themselves  so  com- 
pletely to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  as  to  deny 
themselves  many  of  the  legitimate  solaces  and  pleasures 
of  human  life.  These  are  the  "  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven's  sake."  The  family  life  was  legitimate  ;  but 
in  order  to  further  the  interests  of  the  kingdom,  it  was 
a  necessary  provision  that  some  should  keep  themselves 
free  from  its  encumbrances.  The  interests  of  the  home 
and  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  were  not  incompatible, 
but  they  were  difficult  of  adjustment  in  certain  situations 
and  emergencies.  If  a  man  were  required  to  move  quickly 
from  place  to  place,  and  to  devote  himself  undistractedly 
to  his  calling,  the  burden  of  joy  and  care  incidental  to 
a  home  created  a  divided  heart  and  mind.  *'  He  that 
is  unmarried  careth  for  the  things  that  belong  to  the 
Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord :  but  he  that  is 
married,  careth  for  the  things  that  are  of  the  world,  how 
he  may  please  his  wife."  ^  It  is  not  wrong  that  a  man, 
even  a  missionary,  should  marry,  or  that  he  should 
please  his  wife  ;  but  if  he  has  "  the  gift "  of  living  singly 
and  the  call  to  go  out  as  a  missionary  wandering  freely 
wherever  the  Spirit  leads  him  into  service,  it  is  better 
that  he  should,  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  remain  unmarried. 
The  Church  must  always  be  free  to  exact  this  provision 
where  it  can  be  exacted,  and  under  circumstances  which 
demand  its  enforcement,  but  it  must  always  be  in  the 
interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  not  contrary  to 
the  interests  of  the  spiritual  life  of  those  who  serve 
under  such  conditions. 

So  much  in  justification  and  praise  of  the  single  life ; 
but  what  has  Paul  to  say  regarding  married  life  ?     The 
»  I  Cor.  vii.  32,  33. 

IS 


226     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

first  thing  that  arrests  our  attention  in  this  passage 
of  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  the  qualified  approval 
which  he  accords  to  the  married  state  :  "  but  and  if 
thou  marry  thou  hast  not  sinned."*  It  would  be  unfair, 
however,  to  conclude  that  this  was  all  that  Paul  could 
say  in  favour  of  marriage.  In  the  interests  of  an 
ethereal  type  of  spirituality  there  were  some  who 
regarded  marriage  as  a  sin,  and  argued  that  celibacy, 
as  exemplified  in  Jesus  and  in  Paul,  was  essential  to 
the  realisation  of  Christian  holiness.  It  was  a  symptom 
of  the  Christian  reaction  from  the  licentiousness  of  the 
times.  Extremes  always  afford  an  easier,  and,  for  most 
people,  safer  and  more  satisfactory,  solution  of  an  ethical 
difficulty,  than  the  delicate  discernment  and  adjust- 
ment of  right  and  wrong  which  lead  to  the  middle 
course  or  the  compromise.  It  is  much  simpler  and 
seems  to  take  us  much  farther  forward  to  say,  celibacy 
is  right  and  marriage  wrong,  than  to  say  that  it  is  not 
a  matter  of  right  and  wrong  in  itself,  but  in  its  relations  ; 
that  under  certain  circumstances  the  one  may  be  a  duty, 
the  other  a  necessity,  but  that  both  are  honourable  and 
may  become  a  means  of  holiness.  The  latter  course 
was  that  adopted  by  the  Apostle.  Having  balanced 
the  pros  and  cons,  he  concluded  that  whilst  celibacy 
was  good,  marriage  was  not  ill. 

But  Paul  recognises  marriage  as  a  divine  institution. 
He  accepts  the  creative  purpose  of  male  and  female. 
In  the  married  state  they  form  a  unity:  "they  two 
shall  be  one  flesh."  ^  In  marriage  the  natural  desires 
become  chastened  and  sanctified  by  mutual  love  and 
fidelity,  by  the  joys  and  griefs  of  the  home,  by  the 
duties  and  cares  of  cherishing  each  other  and  of  pro- 
'  I  Cor.  vii.  28.  »  Eph.  v,  31, 


MARRIAGE   AND   CELIBACY  227 

viding  for  the  family.  In  the  married  state  the  selfish- 
ness of  sinful  alliances  is  transformed  into  self-denial 
and  benevolence,  and  chastity  of  mind  and  heart  is 
preserved  without  recourse  to  an  austere  asceticism 
which  may  be  more  in  the  form  than  in  the 
spirit.^ 

Nor  is  this  all.  In  this  letter  also  Paul  strikes  a 
still  higher  note,  though  it  be  but  incidentally.  The 
natures  of  man  and  woman  are  different,  but  they  are 
complementary  of  each  other.  Neither  sex  is  complete 
in  itself  The  man  is  not  perfect  without  the  woman, 
nor  the  woman  without  the  man.  There  is  not  only 
a  divine  sanction,  but  a  divine  necessity  for  marriage. 
"  Neither  is  the  man  without  the  woman,  neither  the 
woman  without  the  man,  in  the  Lord." '  They  were 
created  to  find  their  counterpart  and  completion  in 
each  other.  In  their  "  togetherness  "  each  discovers 
the  qualities  which  the  other  lacks — qualities  which 
modify,  guide,  and  sustain  each  other  in  the  spiritual 
as  well  as  in  the  social  and  domestic  life.  If  the  man 
is  "  the  head  of  the  woman,"  ^  "  the  woman  is  the  glory 
of  the  man."^  To  her  he  gives  strength  of  purpose 
and  will ;  she  to  him  beauty  of  love  and  tenderness. 

But  it  is  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  that  the 
Apostle  reaches  the  highest  point  in  his  ethical  con- 
ception of  marriage.^  Here  he  is  writing  to  a  Church 
in  which  the  Christian  ideal  of  the  home  had  been 
somewhat  realised.  He  sketches  with  a  few  pregnant 
strokes  the  ideal  towards  which  marriage  should  ever 
tend.  The  relation  between  husband  and  wife  is 
sublimated  and  sanctified  as  the  type  of  that  highest 

1  I  Cor.  vii.  2-5.  »  Idtd.  xi.  1 1.  ^-  7di(i.  3. 

*  /did.  7.  *  Eph.  V.  21-33. 


228     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

and  mystic  union  which  subsists  between  Christ  Jesus 
and  His  Church.  Each  finds  in  the  other  the  object 
which  consecrates  the  home  and  makes  it  a  sphere 
of  high  spiritual  disciph'ne.  Husband  and  wife  are 
subject  to  each  other  in  mutual  submission;^  he  in 
self-denying  love,  she  in  self-yielding  love.  As  the 
object  of  Jesus  is  to  save  the  Church  and  to  present 
it  to  God  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  good  as  pure  and 
pure  as  beautiful,  so  also  the  object  of  the  husband 
as  head  of  the  wife  is  the  perfecting  of  her  nature. 
Likewise,  as  the  duty  of  the  Church  is  to  submit  to 
the  offices  of  Christ's  purpose  of  love,  so  also  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  wife,  and  becomes  the  highest  privilege 
of  wifehood,  to  submit  to  the  husband  who  makes 
sacrifices  of  love  on  her  behalf 

Marriage,  therefore,  as  a  type  of  the  highest  spiritual 
relationship — that  of  Christ  and  the  Church — provides 
a  sphere  for  the  culture  of  the  spiritual  life  unique 
in  its  opportunity  and  discipline.  In  the  attempt  to 
realise  the  ideal  of  marriage  in  relation  to  each  other 
in  the  home,  the  husband  and  wife  are  cultivating 
the  very  graces  and  virtues  which  enable  them  to 
realise  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  life  as  members  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  No  doubt  it  is  in  view  of  the 
Christian  opportunity  and  discipline  afforded  by  the 
home  that  Paul  advises  Christians,  when  they  marry, 
to  marry  Christians — "  in  the  Lord  "  ^  ;  and  warns 
them  of  the  danger  of  stunting  or  even  imperilling 
their  Christian  culture  by  being  "  unequally  yoked 
together  with  unbelievers."  ^  Marriage  may  be  a  means 
of  grace  ;  and  husband  and  wife,  in  their  devotion  to 
each  other  in  love  and  reverence  and  self-denial,  are 
^  Eph.  V.  21.  '  I  Cor.  vii.  39.  •  2  Cor.  vi.  14. 


MARRIAGE   AND   CELIBACY  229 

fitting  themselves  to  fill  their  true  place  as  citizens  of 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  is  in  this  way,  therefore,  that  Paul  subtly  adjudicates 
upon  the  relative  value  of  married  and  single  life  as 
favourable  to  that  spirituality  which  is  the  first  demand 
upon  the  Christian.  Each  has  its  own  advantages,  and, 
under  certain  conditions,  the  one  may  be  preferable 
to  the  other.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  however, 
is  a  sin  :  the  holy  life  is  possible  to  both.  The  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  the  demands  of  one's  vocation  in 
life,  and  the  personal  equation  have  all  to  be  taken 
into  account  in  determining  which  is  to  be  chosen. 
The  single  life  is,  however,  not  to  be  chosen  for  liberty 
in  self-indulgence,  nor  the  married  life  to  be  shunned 
because  of  its  self-restraint.  The  former  is  to  be 
entered  upon  and  persevered  in  as  a  vocation  only 
when  the  inner  life  is  able  to  sustain  the  purity  which 
the  outer  life  professes  ;  the  latter  is  to  be  regarded  as 
a  school  of  the  highest  Christian  discipline  and  culture. 
There  is  no  need,  then,  prematurely  to  disturb  the 
present  social  order.  The  acceptance  of  the  new  spirit 
does  not  demand  a  new  environment.  The  world  is 
never  so  bad  that  a  saint  cannot  live  in  it.  The 
natural  and  social  obligations  of  life  need  not  be 
changed  or  abolished,  though  they  may.  be  modified 
through  time  by  the  inner  working  of  the  Spirit. 
"  Brethren,  let  every  man,  wherein  he  is  called,  therein 
abide  with  God."  ^  With  God — that  changes  everything 
by  sanctifying  it ;  and  what  we  often  need  is  not 
new  things,  but  old  things  made  new.  In  whatsoever 
state  of  life  God  can  abide  with  us,  we  may  abide — 
with  God. 

*  I  Cor.  vii.  24. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  DISCIPUNE  OF  THE  HOME 


231 


"Slowly  the  new  home  grows  holy  as  the  deepening  wedding  thus 
goes  on  ;  holy,  for  the  making  oi  two  souls — two  yet  one — is  going  on 
in  it.  Each  soul  is  overcoming  its  own  faults  for  love's  sake,  and  helping 
by  love  to  overcome  the  other's  faults.  Business,  sorrows,  joys,  tempta- 
tions, failures,  victories,  ideals,  are  all  shared  in  it.  By-and-by  the  awes 
of  motherhood  and  fatherhood  are  shared,  and  the  new  co-education  that 
children  bring  their  parents  is  entered  on  together.  The  supreme  beauty 
is  attained  when  both  realise  that  the  inmost  secret  of  true  marriage 
is — to  love  the  idea's  better  than  each  other." — Gannett's  Blessed  he 
the  Thorn-bearer. 

"  I  want  her  to  have  some  one  marvellous  thing  impressed  on  her 
memory— some  one  ineffable  recollection  of  childhood  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
the  darkness  associated  with  shining  stars  and  a  safe  feeling  that  her 
father  took  her  out  into  it.  This  is  to  last  all  through  her  life — till 
the  '  great  dark '  comes  ;  so  that  when  it  does  come,  it  shall  be  with  an 
old  familiar  sense  of  fatherhood  and  starlight."' — William  Canton's 
Invisible  I  lay  mate. 


332 


CHAPTER    XVI 
THE  SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE   OF    THE   HOME 

A  HOME  is  a  little  world  by  itself— a  little  world 
of  souls.  It  is  a  spiritual  community,  a  society 
complete  in  itself,  with  its  own  laws,  its  own  traditions, 
its  own  life.  It  is  the  unit  of  the  life  of  the  nation  ; 
for  the  nation  is  not  an  aggregate  of  individuals,  but 
a  social  organism  in  which  each  home  is  a  living  cell. 
Though  each  home  is  complete  in  itself,  it  is  related 
to  all  others  around  it.  It  gives  and  gets,  influences 
them  and  is  influenced  by  them.  Home  breeds  home  , 
the  child  becomes  the  parent,  and  builds  a  home  like 
the  home  that  is  left  behind.  In  the  home  all  great 
lessons  of  life  are  learned :  it  teaches  the  alphabet  and 
rudiments  of  everything  that  is  great  and  noble,  mean 
and  base.  So  that  the  life  of  the  greater  world  never 
rises  higher  than  the  life  of  the  smaller  world  of  the 
home.  The  homeless  scarcely  count  in  a  nation's 
wellbeing.  They  are  not  organic  parts  of  it.  It  is 
when  the  solitary  are  set  in  families  that  a  nation's 
life  and  history  begin. 

But  the  home  is  also  the  unit  of  the  Church.  The 
Church  was  born  and  cradled  in  the  home.  The  home- 
church,  "the  church  in  the  house,"  under  the  asgis  of 
the  family,  was  the  first  Church.  The  Christian  com- 
munities met  in  the  homes  out  of  which  they  sprang. 

233 


234    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

And  there  was  a  deep  ethical  significance  in  this  fact, 
for  the  graces  and  virtues  of  the  Christian  life  are  first 
learned  and  practised  in  the  home.  In  the  home  com- 
munity obedience,  reverence,  self-denial,  and  every  form 
of  altruistic  virtue  find  of  necessity  a  sphere.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  transplant  these  virtues  from  the  natural 
institution  of  the  home  to  the  spiritual  institution  of  the 
Church. 

The  Christian  home,  as  we  know  it,  is  not  the  growth 
of  a  day.  It  is  a  flower  which  it  has  taken  ages  of 
unconscious  experiment  to  cultivate.  There  were  always 
homes,  but  not  such  homes.  Sometimes  they  were 
almost  obliterated  in  the  tribe,  sometimes  polluted  by 
the  harem,  sometimes  loveless  and  cruel  and  despotic  ; 
but  after  long  evolution  the  Christian  home  stands  out 
fair  and  wholesome  and  sweet,  acknowledged  by  all 
civilised  nations  to  be  the  fittest  and  best  nursery  and 
school  for  the  rearing  and  training  of  good  citizens 
modest  women,  and  honourable  men.  And  this  is 
so  because  Christianity,  which  found  in  the  home  the 
fundamental  elements  of  morality  upon  which  it  drew, 
paid  back  the  debt  by  giving  to  the  home  new  and 
divine  sanctions,  a  purer  atmosphere  of  peace  and 
love,  fresh  grace  to  its  beauty  and  stability  to  its 
strength. 

But  the  Christian  home,  being  a  little  world  in 
itself,  as  all  homes  must  be,  requires  an  economy,  a 
rule  of  the  house,  to  ensure  order.  Each  member 
of  the  home  must  have  his  and  her  proper  place  and 
function.  In  every  living  organism  efficiency  and  health 
can  be  secured  and  maintained  only  by  each  organ  ful- 
filling its  own  part  in  the  economy  of  the  whole.  Each 
member  of  the   home   cannot   be   everything   and   do 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME     235 

anything,  else  it  were  no  longer  a  home,  but  a  common 
lodging-house.  The  members  are  related  to  each  other 
by  natural  ties,  by  moral  obligations,  by  spiritual 
affinities,  and  these  relations  create  distinctions  in 
position  and  duty.  If  there  is  to  be  order  there  must 
be  authority  ;  if  there  is  to  be  authority  there  must  be 
submission  ;  but,  in  the  Christian  home,  if  there  is  to 
be  submission  there  must  be  love,  and  if  there  is  to 
be  obedience  there  must  be  the  recognition  of  freedom. 
The  home  must  have  a  head  to  whom  the  members 
render  obedience  and  reverence,  but  the  head  must 
be  one  to  whom  they  can  look  for  wisdom  and  guidance. 
It  is  only  when  each  member  of  the  family  fulfils  his 
and  her  proper  function  in  relation  to  each  other  and 
to  the  whole  family  that  the  true  life  of  each  is  realised. 
To  have  order  in  the  little  world  of  the  home,  there  must 
be  government,  and  to  have  government  all  cannot  have 
the  same  rights  and  duties  ;  and  these  being  difi'erent 
they  must  be  defined. 

It  is  precisely  this  which  Paul  does  for  the  Christian 
home.  He  finds  in  the  home  certain  natural  and  social 
relations,  which  he  recognises  and  accepts — husband 
and  wife,  parents  and  children,  masters  and  slaves. 
These  relationships  can  never  be  confused  or  ignored 
without  destroying  the  home.  He  therefore  defines 
the  duties  of  the  members  towards  each  other  in  the 
light  of  the  new  life  which  has  come  to  the  world 
through  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  home  we  find  a  centre 
and  two  concentric  circles — an  inner  and  an  outer. 
At  the  centre  are  husband  and  wife,  the  nucleus  of 
the  family,  two  yet  one,  the  head  and  heart  of  the 
home.  They  have  relations  to  each  other,  which  do 
not  exist  so  far  as  the  rest  of  the  family  are  concerned. 


236    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

They  are  husband  and  wife  to  each  other.  To  the 
children,  who  compose  the  inner  circle,  they  arc  parents  ; 
to  the  slaves,  who  compose  the  outer  circle,  they  are 
masters.  Paul  provided  what  we  might  call  the  Rule 
of  the  Christian  home,  which  might  well  be  printed 
in  letters  of  gold  over  every  domestic  hearth,  for  it 
has  done  more  to  elevate  and  sweeten  and  sanctify 
family  life,  and  to  make  it  a  school  of  the  highest 
ethical  and  religious  training,  than  any  other  words 
that  were  ever  penned. 

The  relations  between  the  centre  and  the  circles 
are  regarded  as  a  series  of  submissions  or  subjections — 
the  wife  to  the  husband,  the  children  to  the  parents, 
the  servants  to  the  master.  But  there  is  nothing  in 
them  that  is  galling  or  degrading,  or,  at  least,  need 
be  so.  They  arise  out  of  the  very  nature  of  things, 
and  are  essential  to  good  order  and  harmony.  They 
are  softened  and  sanctified  by  three  considerations  which 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

First,  obligation  is  not  all  on  the  one  side.  Correspond- 
ing duties  are  laid  upon  husbands,  parents,  masters  ; 
so  that  they  who  claim  submission  must  make  it 
possible  to  render  that  submission  consistently  with 
the  inherent  and  inalienable  dignity  of  human  nature. 

Second,  the  various  submissions  are  tempered  by 
mutual  submission.  If  the  one  side  has  to  submit  to 
obedience,  the  other  has  to  submit  to  duty.  "  Sub- 
mitting yourselves  one  to  another."  ^ 

The   third    regulative    idea   gives   divine  sanction  to 

the  whole.     On  both    sides  the  obligations   are   to   be 

rendered   by  a   free  spirit,  not   merely  as  due  to  each 

other,   but   as   to   the   Lord    of  all  :  "  In   the  name  of 

*  Eph.  V.  21. 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME     237 

the  Lord  Jesus  "  ^  ;  "  In  the  fear  of  God  "^ ;  "  As  unto 
the  Lord."  ^  The  reciprocal  duties  and  obligations  of 
the  home  are  to  become  a  service  rendered  by  each 
and  all  to  the  Father,  in  whose  name  every  household 
is  named.  The  sting  of  a  degrading  subjection  and 
the  bite  of  a  harsh  authority  are  thus  taken  away,  and 
all  co-operate  harmoniously  as  an  economy,  bound  to 
each  other  but  free  towards  Christ. 

At  the  centre  of  the  home  are  the  husband  and 
wife.  Their  relations  to  each  other  are  beautifully  and 
delicately  defined  by  the  Apostle.  The  duty  of  sub- 
jection on  the  part  of  the  wife  was  no  new  thing.  It 
was  the  order  in  all  the  homes  of  the  Pagan  world. 
Paul  accepts  it  as  part  of  the  natural  order,  and  makes 
no  attempt  to  disturb  it.  It  is  an  arrangement  into 
which  humanity  has  been  divinely  led.  He  expressly 
confirms  it  as  the  law  of  the  Christian  household  for 
this  reason — that,  with  the  new  relation  of  woman  to 
Christ  and  the  Church,  there  was  a  tendency  to  revise 
and  break  down  the  old  relation  to  her  husband  and 
the  home.  That  relation  must  stand,  he  says,  not 
merely  as  a  natural  arrangement  or  social  convention, 
but  as  a  divine  appointment.  "Wives,  submit  your- 
selves unto  your  own  husbands,  as  unto  the  Lord."  * 

But,  whilst  the  Apostle  insists  upon  the  validity  of 
the  old  regime  of  subjection,  he  teaches  woman  to  see 
in  it  a  means  of  grace  to  assist  her  in  the  education 
of  her  spiritual  life.  The  Church,  of  which  she  is  a 
member,  subsists  in  the  same  relation  to  Jesus  Christ, 
its    Head.     Her   subjection  as   a  wife  to  her  husband 

*  Col.  iii.  17.  *  Eph.  v.  21. 

*  Ibid.  22 :  cf.  vi.  ii  5,  9i  Col.  iii.  18,  20,  22,  23. 

*  Eph.  V.  22. 


238     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

is  the  same  in  principle  as  her  subjection  as  a  Christian 
to  Christ.  In  fulfilling  the  one  obligation  she  is  learning 
to  fulfil,  in  fact  is  fulfilling,  the  other.  "  Therefore," 
he  says,  "as  the  Church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  so  let 
the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands  in  everything."^ 
The  same  spirit  is  needed  in  both  relations,  and  in 
cultivating  it  in  the  one  sphere  she  cultivates  it  for 
the  other. 

The  wife's  subjection,  then,  is  not  that  of  an  inferior, 
but  the  free  subjection,  in  the  interests  of  order,  of 
a  personality  which  is  equal  to  that  of  man  in  the 
sight  of  God.  It  is  not  a  subjection  which  crushes 
by  fear.  It  subsists  in  the  atmosphere  of  love  created 
and  maintained  by  the  husband.  Her  submission  is 
not  to  be  exacted  as  a  right,  but  won  as  a  duty  freely 
rendered.  It  is  a  reciprocal  obligation  which  meets,  and 
responds  to,  the  loving  care  and  sacrifice  of  the  husband. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  when  Paul  turns  to  speak  of 
the  duties  of  husbands  he  writes  at  greater  length — 
and  not  without  cause.  For,  whilst  all  over  the  Pagan 
world  the  subjection  of  the  wife  was  rendered  to,  and 
exacted  by,  the  husband,  the  obligations  of  the  husband 
were  regulated,  for  good  or  ill,  by  the  caprice  of  an 
unsanctified  will.  One  thing  Christianity  has  certainly 
done  for  the  home.  It  has  elevated  and  in  many 
respects  altered  the  attitude  of  the  husband  to  the 
wife,  and  for  that  reason  has  changed  the  character 
of  the  relation  of  the  wife  to  the  husband. 

The  husband's  duty  is  summed  up  in  the  one  word, 

Love ;  a  love  with  which,   in    quality   and    degree,  the 

Pagan  heart  had  seldom,  if  ever,  throbbed.     "  Husbands, 

love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the  Church."  ' 

»  Eph.  V.  24.  *  Ibid.  25. 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME     239 

Even  as !  The  words  needed  interpretation,  measure- 
ment ;  and  for  that  reason  the  Apostle  ventures  to 
sketch  the  ideal  of  love  with  a  few  significant  strokes. 
The  dignity  and  glory  of  the  wife  are  presented  to 
the  husband's  mind  by  the  fact  that  she  is  raised  as 
an  object  of  love  to  a  position  alongside  of  the  Church, 
the  bride  of  Christ.  She  is  worthy,  therefore,  of  all 
the  love  which  the  husband's  heart  can  lavish  upon 
her.  The  love  he  owes  is  not  the  mere  condescension 
of  lordship  ;  it  is,  as  seen  by  the  love  of  Christ  for 
His  Church,  self-sacrifice — "  He  gave  Himself  for  it "  ; 
and  service — "  that  He  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it." 
Nor  is  it  a  form  of  self-seeking  or  self-gratification  : 
the  object  is  to  "  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  church, 
not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing."  ^  All 
thought  of  self  is  lost  in  the  well-being  and  the  high 
destiny  of  the  bride.  "  So,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  ought 
men  to  love  their  wives "  ^ — with  a  love  to  the  fulness 
of  which  they  can  never  attain,  but  to  which  they 
must  ever  aspire. 

But,  after  all,  in  the  true  conception  of  marriage, 
the  idea  of  lordship  on  the  part  of  the  husband  gives 
way  to  that  of  identification.  Husband  and  wife  are 
not  two,  but  two  in  one :  "  and  they  two  shall  be  one 
flesh "  ^ :  he,  the  head  ;  she,  the  body ;  both  a  living 
organism,  in  which  the  one  is  nothing  in  the  home 
without  the  other.  Love  exacts  no  submission.  It 
so  identifies  itself  with  the  interests  and  cares  and 
labours  of  the  beloved  as  to  make  them  its  own.  He 
loses  himself  in  her,  and  she  finds  and  forgets  herself 
in  him.  He  thus  identifies  himself  with  her  in  a  self- 
love  which  has  no  stain  or  strain  of  selfishness.  "  He 
1  Eph,  V.  27.  »  Jdid.  28.  »  Idid.  31. 


240    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

thkt  lovcth  his  wife,  loveth  himself." '^  The  old  Pagan 
lordship  is  lifted  up  and  absorbed  in  love. 

The  home  thus  becomes  to  man,  as  a  husband,  a 
school  of  the  richest  spiritual  culture.  Here,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  simple  and  natural  duty  towards  his 
wife,  a  man  learns  Christ  in  His  highest  and  crowning 
activity  of  love.  Love,  the  greatest  of  all  Christian 
graces,  comes  home  to  the  fireside  and  sits  with  husband 
and  wife,  teaching  them  how  to  practise  it  in  the  little 
world,  that  they  might  know  how  to  use  it  beyond  in 
discharging  the  larger  debt  of  love  towards  God  and 
man.  "This  is  a  great  mystery,"^  but  it  is  a  mystery 
which  casts  a  halo  around  the  home  ;  and,  whilst  it 
obscures  many  defects,  it  glorifies  many  graces.  It  is 
a  mystery  which  we  cannot  read  plainly ;  but  it  tells 
us  of  the  illimitable  and  divine  love  which  husband 
and  wife  owe  to  each  other,  "  even  as  the  Lord  the 
church."  ^  The  home  is  an  embryonic  Church ;  the 
Church  a  glorified  home.  Than  the  best  home  there 
is  always  a  better,  because  there  is  always  a  higher 
love  than  the  love  we  can  render  to  each  other — the 
love  of  Christ  to  His  Church,  in  which  husband  and 
wife,  and  men  and  women  in  all  life's  relations, 
participate. 

But  husband  and  wife  have  other  relations  in  domestic 
life.  Towards  their  children  they  stand  in  a  position 
of  perfect  equality.  They  are  parents,  and  what  is 
due  from  the  children  to  one  is  due  to  the  other. 
Children  have  a  double  duty  towards  their  parents. 
The  first  is  obedience ;  the  second  is  honour. 

Obedience :  it  is  the  first  lesson  a  child  has  to  learn, 
and  it  is  the  hardest  and  best.  It  is  the  great  lesson 
*  Eph.  V.  28.  *  Ibid  32.  •  Ibid,  29. 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME     241 

of  submission  to  a  higher  will.  The  child  must  learn 
to  do  and  not  to  do,  before  it  can  judge  the  ethical 
basis  of  its  actions.  Habits  have  to  be  imposed  upon 
the  child  before  it  knows  or  even  can  understand  the 
reasons  for  them ;  for  a  child  learns  the  right  and 
wrong  of  life  not  by  abstractions  and  arguments,  but 
by  the  doing  of  the  right  act  and  the  abstaining  from 
the  wrong.  The  will  of  the  child  must  therefore  be 
bent  in  the  direction  of  the  best  forms  of  conduct  as 
known  to,  and  insisted  upon  by,  the  parents.  These 
forms  of  conduct  are  part  of  its  natural  patrimony 
which  every  parent  has  a  duty  to  convey.  In  the 
long  struggle  of  social  life  they  have  been  found  the 
best,  and  the  child  must  comply  with  them  until  it 
can  judge  maturely  for  itself  and,  if  possible,  discover 
better. 

The  Apostle  gives  two  reasons  for  this  obedience. 
The  first  is  "  for  this  is  right "  ^ ;  it  is  according  to 
the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  God.  Our  instincts 
tell  us  it  is  just.  All  over  the  world  this  duty  is 
exacted  of  the  children  of  the  home.  There  could 
be  no  economy,  no  rule  in  the  house,  if  the  weak  and 
unformed  will  of  the  child  should  have  its  own  way. 
But  there  is  another  reason  :  "  This  is  well  pleasing  unto 
the  Lord."  ^  It  is  what  God  expects  of  every  child. 
His  own  well-beloved  Son  came  not  to  do  His  own 
will,  but  the  will  of  His  Father ;  and  in  Him  the 
Father  was  "  well  pleased."  ^  So  every  father's  son 
who  follows  the  example  of  the  Son  of  God  merits 
the  same  approbation. 

The  earthly  relationship  between   father  and  son  is 
thus  Hfted  up  to  a  higher  platform  and  set  alongside  of 
'  Eph.  vi.  I.  •  Col.  iii.  20.  '  Matt.  iii.  17. 

16 


242     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  heavenly  relationship  that  subsists  between  God 
and  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Apostle 
can  demand  an  obedience  which  is  the  highest  freedom  : 
"  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord."  ^  On  this 
ground  parents  may  exact  obedience  with  a  good  con- 
science ;  for  the  home  must  become  to  the  child,  as 
God  ordained  it  should  become,  the  school  in  which 
that  virtue  which  is  the  foundation  of  Christian  culture 
and  service  is  learned — the  virtue  of  obedience.  Though 
hard  to  learn,  the  child  is  sharing  in  that  discipline 
of  life  to  which  Jesus  Himself  had  to  submit;  for 
"though  he  were  a  Son,  yet  learned  He  obedience  by 
the  things  which  He  suffered."^ 

The  second  part  of  the  duty  is  Honour.^  Honour 
is  the  homage  of  the  mind  and  heart,  as  obedience 
is  the  homage  of  the  will.  It  is  the  debt  which  we 
owe  to  our  superiors  in  wisdom  and  goodness,  as 
obedience  is  the  debt  we  owe  to  our  superiors  in 
authority.  Obedience  is  the  first  lesson  which  the 
child  must  learn,  even  before  it  awakens  to  the 
qualities  in  the  parent  which  evoke  the  sense  of  honour. 
Honour  comes  next,  and  makes  obedience  reasonable 
and  easy  ;  for  it  is  not  hard  to  obey  an  authority  which 
we  know  to  be  inspired  by  a  wisdom  and  goodness 
which  we  can  honour. 

To  the  duty  of  honour  a  promise  is  attached — the 
promise  of  well-being  ;  "  that  it  may  be  well  with 
thee."  *  Honour  is  not  merely  a  quality  which  wears 
well  and  becomingly  in  the  home ;  it  wears  well 
and  becomingly  all  through  life :  it  is  part  of  our 
wellbeing.  The  child  who  honours  the  father  and 
mother  is  not  merely  a  good  child,  but  has  the  promise 

I    Eph.  vi.  I.  »  Heb.  v.  8.  »  Eph.  vi.  2.  *  Ibid.  3. 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME    243 

of  being  a  good  citizen,  a  good  husband  or  wife,  a 
good  father  or  mother,  a  good  lover  or  friend.  He 
has  learned  to  look  up  and  to  bow  down.  He  has 
learned  to  expect  and  find  in  others  a  better  than 
his  best.  He  has  contracted  in  the  home  a  habit  of 
mind  and  heart  which  sweetens  and  sanctifies  all  his 
relations  with  his  fellows  in  the  world.  It  shall  be 
well  in  the  world  with  him  who  has  learned  honour  in 
the  home. 

But  he  has  learned  more.  He  has  learned  something 
which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  religious  culture.  He 
has  learned  to  honour  God — a  lesson  which  the  Divine 
Son  had  learned  when  He  could  say  "  I  honour  My 
Father."  *  In  the  duty  of  honour,  as  in  that  of  obedience, 
the  ethical  sanction  and  impulse  are  found  not  in 
custom  or  in  prudence,  but  far  back  in  the  religious  life, 
even  in  the  life  of  Christ  Himself.  The  qualities  which 
adorn  the  children  of  the  earthly  home  are  none  else 
than  those  which  the  Son  of  the  heavenly  home 
adorned  in  His  manifestation  of  them. 

To  these  duties  of  children,  however,  there  are  corre- 
sponding duties  of  parents.  If  the  children  are  to 
obey  and  honour  them,  they  must  obey  and  honour  God. 
Their  authority  over  their  children  is  "  in  the  Lord." 
It  is  a  vested  authority,  and  the  seat  of  it  is  above. 
One  thing  they  ought  not  to  do :  one  thing  they  ought. 

The  first  is  "  Provoke  not  your  children  to  anger,  lest 
they  be  discouraged."  ^  Children  are  not  to  be  ex- 
asperated by  the  exercise  of  an  authority  which  is 
unreasonable  and  tyrannous.  Wrath  provokes  wrath. 
Though  the  parent  is  not  obliged  to  give  to  the  child 
reasons  for  the  obedience  which  he  exacts,  he  must 
'  John  viii.  49.  *  Col.  iii.  21. 


244    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

be  able  to  give  reasons  to  himself  and  to  God.  He 
is  not  to  forget  that  the  child  is  not  a  thing,  a  chattel, 
but  a  person,  with  the  potentiality,  though  at  present 
without  the  power,  of  a  free  agent.  The  man  that  is  to 
be  must  be  respected  in  the  child  that  is.  The  parent 
must  honour  the  child,  if  the  child  is  to  honour  the 
parent.  The  parent  must  remember  the  child's  destiny, 
and  the  obedience  exacted  must  be  tempered  so  as 
to  further  it.  He  must  not  excite  the  wrath  of  his  child, 
but  elicit  his  love ;  for  the  love  of  the  child  is  the  joy 
and  privilege  of  fatherhood  and  motherhood.  Children 
are  to  be  encouraged,  not  discouraged  ;  brought  up,  not 
held  down  ;  not  to  be  depressed  by  fear,  but  taught 
to  express  themselves  in  joy  and  love. 

The  second  is  the  positive  side  of  parental  duty,  and 
is  summed  up  briefly  in  the  words  "  bring  them  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."^  There  is 
to  be  a  careful  education  of  the  child  in  all  that  is  best, 
and  as  careful  a  correction  of  it  in  all  that  is  worst 
For  the  child  is  like  a  plant,  which  requires  to  be 
nourished,  and  watered,  and  sunned,  and  supported 
to  confirm  it  in  health  and  in  habit ;  but  also  pruned 
to  prevent  ungainly  growths  and  disfigurements. 
Nurture  and  admonition,  education  and  correction,  must 
go  hand  in  hand  ;  for  even  in  the  child-mind  there 
are  seeds  of  error,  as  well  as  seeds  of  truth,  and  the 
root  of  bitterness  springs  as  from  the  ground  alongside 
the  root  of  love.  Weeds  grow  as  well  as  flowers,  and 
more  easily,  in  that  garden  of  the  child-nature  which 
seems  so  fair  a  paradise  ;  and  the  parent  must  be 
watchful  to  keep  the  soil  clean,  when  the  spring- 
growth  is  on,  lest  the  former  outgrow  the  latter  as  the 
'  Eph.  vi.  4, 


SPIRITUAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HOME     245 

seasons  advance.  But  both  the  nurture  and  admonition 
are  to  find  their  regulative  force  "in  the  Lord."  The 
children  are  the  Lord's  by  redemption,  and  have  been 
acknowledged  to  be  His,  in  the  baptismal  covenant. 
They  are  therefore  to  be  reared  as  His.  Education  will 
never  be  profane,  and  correction  will  never  be  harsh 
and  unfeeling,  when  "in  the  Lord." 

Here  once  again  the  earthly  duty  finds  its  sanction 
in  the  heavenly  example.  The  duties  which  God 
expects  of  fathers  are  none  other  than  those  which  He 
Himself  adopts  in  His  relation  to  the  great  human 
family.  In  grace  and  in  providence  he  employs  a  vast 
system  of  encouragements  and  checks  which  secure 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  men.  He  is  ever  the 
bringer  of  the  best  out  of  the  worst,  and  knows  how 
to  choke  the  weed  by  the  cultivation  of  the  flower. 
In  the  history  of  His  chosen  people,  and  in  the  inspired 
record  of  it,  every  virtue  of  man  is  encouraged  and 
every  sin  reproved.  What  book  praises  us  so  fully, 
or  blames  us  so  fearlessly,  as  the  word  of  God  ?  It 
is  "profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness."  The  heavenly  Father- 
hood is  therefore  the  antitype  of  the  earthly,  and  in  this 
relation  also  man  sees  himself  in  God,  in  whose  image 
he  was  originally  made.  Thus  the  conduct  which  a 
father  has  to  observe  towards  his  children  receives  a 
new  basis  and  a  fresh  impulse,  for  he  realises  that  it 
is  nothing  else  than  the  line  of  conduct  which  God 
has  ever  pursued  toward  himself  and  toward  the  whole 
family  in  which  he,  though  a  father,  still  remains  a 
child. 


BOUND    YET   FREE 


247 


"  To  use  force  first,  before  people  are  fairly  taught  the  truth,  is  to  knock 
a  nail  into  a  board  without  wimbling  a  hole  for  it,  which  then  either 
not  enters,  or  turns  crooked,  or  splits  the  wood  in  pieces." — Fuller. 

•'  The  hardest  question  ain't  the  black  man's  right, — 
The  trouble  is  to  'mancipate  the  white  ; 
One's  chained  in  body  an'  can  be  sot  free,— 
The  other's  chained  in  soul  to  an  idee  : 
It's  a  long  job,  but  we  shall  worry  thru  it  ; 
Ef  bag'nets  fail,  the  spellin'-book  must  do  it." 

Lowell's  Biglow  Papers. 

"  On  every  side  men  were  asking  :  What  is  the  end  ol  liberty,  or 
of  equality,  which  in  its  ultimate  analysis  is  only  the  liberty  of  all? 
The  /ree  man  is  only  an  active  force  ready  to  work.  In  what  manner 
shall  it  work?  Capriciously?  In  every  direction  that  presents  itself? 
That  is  not  life,  rather  a  simple  sequence  of  acts,  of  phenomena,  of 
symptoms  of  vitality,  without  connection  or  relation,  or  continuity : 
its  name  is  anarchy.  .  ,  .  Though  our  chains  are  lengthened,  we  are 
prisoners  still,  and  we  brag  of  our  liberty  because  we  are  free  to  move 
round  the  post  to  which  our  chains  are  fastened." 

Mazzini's  Failh  and  the  Future. 


048 


CHAPTER    XVII 

BOUND    YET   FREE 

THE  outer  circle  of  the  home  in  Greek  and  Roman 
society  consisted  of  the  slaves.  Slavery  was 
regarded  as  an  institution  of  nature.  It  was  accepted 
as  a  legitimate  part  of  the  social  order  even  by  the 
philosophers.  The  rightness  of  it  was  not  questioned. 
The  conception  of  man's  dignity  and  destiny  in  relation 
to  God,  which  ultimately  forced  the  question  and 
answered  it,  had  not  yet  dawned  upon  the  Pagan  mind. 
The  ancient  civilisations  of  Paganism  were  founded 
upon  slavery.  It  is  computed  that  in  the  time  of  Paul 
fully  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  Empire 
were  slaves,  and  of  the  Greek  cities  about  one-third. 
Yet  these  dumb  millions,  who  were  little  better  than 
the  living  tools  of  the  rich,  accepted  their  destiny, 
and  had  no  advocate  to  plead  the  injustice  of  their 
lot,  or  even  to  tell  them  it  was  unjust. 

For  what  was  the  lot  of  the  slave?  He  had  no 
rights,  no  responsibilities  ;  and  few  virtues,  for  they 
were  not  expected.  Plis  one  virtue  was  to  be  pliant 
in  the  hand  of  the  master.  He  was  a  thing,  not  a 
man — a  thing  to  be  bought  and  sold,  fed  and  fawned, 
or  kicked  and  lashed,  according  to  the  temperament 
of  his  superiors.  Sometimes  he  knew  the  luxury  of 
kindness   and   consideration,  but   these   condiments  of 

349 


250    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

life  were  not  due  to  him.  He  had,  for  the  most 
part,  to  eat  his  bitter  herbs  without  the  sauce  of  love. 
He  was  a  live  chattel,  a  human  beast  of  burden,  with 
a  will  for  which  he  had  no  use,  with  instincts  for  good 
which  were  superfluous,  and  with  blind  aspirations  for 
freedom  which  it  was  monstrous  to  acknowledge  and 
criminal  to  cherish.  This  gigantic  institution,  hoary 
with  age,  and  stained  with  blood  of  cruelty,  was  not 
only  tolerated,  but  unquestioned  in  the  Pagan  world, 
accepted  by  its  philosophies  and  sanctioned  by  its 
religions. 

Paul  discovered  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  the  instrument 
— lever  and  fulcrum — by  which  this  inhuman  institution 
was  to  be  overturned.  The  Christian  conception  of 
man's  equality  before  God  and  man's  brotherhood  in 
Christ,  transcending  all  racial  and  national,  all  social 
and  civil,  all  conventional  and  artificial,  distinctions 
among  men — that  was  the  heaven-fashioned  instrument 
which  Paul  found  at  his  hand,  took  up,  and — apparently 
laid  down  again. 

Did  Paul  know  the  potency  of  this  new  instrument 
which  God  had  put  into  his  hand  ?  Did  he  appreciate 
the  enormities  of  slavery  which  everywhere  met  his 
eye  ?  Was  he  aware  that  the  one  was  given  for  the 
destruction  of  the  other  ?  There  can  scarcely  be  a 
doubt  that  no  man  ever  knew  these  things  better  than 
he.  Yet  he  headed  no  agitation,  started  no  revolution, 
suggested  no  grievance,  denounced  nothing,  disturbep 
nothing.  Nevertheless  he  did  all  these  things,  or  led 
to  the  doing  of  them. 

It  was  part  of  Paul's  method.  It  was  the  method  of 
reserve,  of  silence^  of  waiting,  of  preparation — a  method 
which  he  found  unformulated   but  acted  upon   by  his 


BOUND  YET  FREE  251 

Master.  The  greatness  of  Paul  is  seen  in  his  restraint ; 
his  faith,  in  his  foregoing  temporary  advantages  in  view 
of  future  triumphs  ;  his  humility,  in  silently  asserting 
great  principles  of  thought  which  were  destined  to 
change  the  face  of  the  world  long  after  he  had  passed 
away.  For  he  believed  that  changes  in  the  social  order 
were  of  little  value  without  change  in  the  spiritual  life  ; 
that  the  first  thing  was  to  regenerate  men,  and  then 
leave  them  to  reform  the  institutions  in  which  they  lived  ; 
that  the  destruction  of  the  bad  was  only  effectively 
secured  by  the  upbuilding  of  the  good ;  that  the  driv- 
ing out  of  the  devils  and  leaving  the  house  empty  gave 
no  security  against  their  return  in  greater  force  ;  that 
all  permanent  reforms  were  effected  from  within.  In 
fact,  his  method  was  a  silent  protest  against  the  ancient 
and  still  modern  idea  that  the  environment  makes  the 
man,  and  that  all  we  have  to  do  to  regenerate  humanity 
is  to  provide  better  laws,  better  institutions,  better 
houses,  better  food,  and  less  work.  All  these  things 
grow  out  of  human  life.  The  life  is  more  than  meat, 
the  body  more  than  raiment.  Change  the  spirit,  and 
the  spirit  changes  the  form.  Change  the  form  and 
leave  the  spirit  as  it  is,  and  the  new  form  gradually 
and  inevitably  reverts  to  the  old  type.  There  is  a  haste 
which  is  not  speed,  and  a  short-cut  which  proves  to  be 
the  longest  way  in  the  end. 

What,  then,  was  Paul's  attitude  towards  slavery? 
Did  he  do  nothing?  On  the  contrary,  he  outlined  the 
charter  of  man's  freedom  and  left  it  to  be  filled  in  and 
presented  when  the  world  understood  it  and  was  ready 
to  adopt  the  principles  which  it  embodied.  He  antici- 
pated the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  laid  down  the  lines 
along  which  Christian  philanthropy  has   ever   worked 


252    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

towards  that  end.  He  was  the  pioneer  in  the  long 
struggle — the  first  to  ring  the  death-knell  of  slavery. 

His  first  word  of  advice  is — contentment,  submission. 
The  new  faith  was  not  incompatible  with  the  old  form 
of  life.  The  fact  of  a  man's  servitude  had  not  prevented 
his  being  called  as  a  Christian,  and  could  not  prevent 
his  living  as  a  Christian.  "  Let  every  man  abide  in 
the  same  calling  wherein  he  was  called."  ^  It  is  the 
general  policy  which  the  Apostle  advocates  for  adoption 
by  Christians  in  the  various  relations  of  life.  Christianity 
is  not  to  become  embroiled  in  premature  efforts  at 
social  reform.  The  order  of  domestic  life  is  to  be 
retained  till  the  new  principles  are  sufficiently  adopted 
and  diffused  to  transform  it.  The  Christian  religion 
has  not  as  its  first  aim  social  revolution,  but  spiritual 
regeneration  ;  though  ultimately  the  former  is  to  be 
effected  by  the  latter. 

Hence  his  next  advice  is  to  transcend  their  limita- 
tions, rather  than  to  renounce  or  break  through  them. 
They  may  live  their  spiritual  life  as  slaves,  and  yet  as 
if  they  were  not  slaves.  "Wast  thou  called  being  a 
bondservant?  care  not  for  it."^  Overlook  the  fact, 
transcend  it,  live  above  it.  Not  that  the  Apostle  is 
indifferent  to  the  repression  of  servitude :  "  if  thou 
canst  be  free,  use  it  rather  "  ;  if  your  freedom  is  offered 
you,  take  advantage  of  your  freedom.  Slavery  is  not 
a  divine  institution,  in  which  any  man  must  remain. 
But  when  a  man  comes  out  of  it,  he  must  do  so  honour- 
ably. Neither  society  nor  the  slaves  themselves,  however, 
were  ripe  for  making  a  change,  and  individual  action 
would  prove  unwise  and  disastrous.  Hence  Paul  advises 
the  slaves  not  to  think  so  much  of  their  rights  as  of 
»  I  Cor.  vii.  20.  •  Ibid.  21,  R.V. 


BOUND  YET  FREE  253 

their  privileges,  not  so  much  of  their  inequalities  as  men 
among  men,  as  of  their  equality  as  brethren  in  the 
sight  of  God.  Their  true  equality,  which  in  time  would 
effect  the  abolition  of  all  inequalities,  was  in  the  higher 
plane  of  the  spiritual  life.  Live  in  that  plane,  says 
Paul ;  for  in  these  deeper  relations — the  relation  of  a 
man  to  God  and  Christ  and  eternity — the  distinction 
between  bondman  and  freedman  disappears.  "  He  that 
was  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  bondservant,  is  the 
Lord's  freedman  :  likewise  he  that  was  called,  being 
free,  is  Christ's  bondservant."  ^  In  this  spiritual  sphere 
we  are  all  servants  in  an  equality  of  servitude  to  Jesus 
Christ.  Thus  the  sting  of  slavery  is  taken  away, 
though  its  fangs  are  not  yet  drawn.  The  divine  corrosive 
is  already  attacking  the  chains,  though  they  are  not 
yet  eaten  through.  Paul  knows  that  time  will  work 
universal  liberation  ;  but  it  would  have  been  the  mad- 
ness of  a  fanatic  to  cry  that  the  time  had  now  come, 
and  that  every  slave  should  burst  his  bonds  and  go 
free.  Meanwhile,  he  says,  remain  where  you  are,  but 
you  do  not  need  to  remain  as  you  are.  The  spirit  of 
freed  men  is  yours,  though  all  privileges  cannot  yet  be 
claimed.  Your  freedom  is  purchased :  your  title  is 
secured  :  "  ye  were  bought  with  a  price."  ^  Though 
slaves  of  those  who  are  "  masters  according  to  the  flesh,"  ^ 
live  as  men  who  are  free  under  the  Master  according 
to  the  spirit.  In  your  inmost  nature  "  become  not  bond- 
servants of  men."  ^  Transcend  your  present  limitations 
by  realising  your  highest  freedom  in  Christ  Jesus. 

But  the  Apostle  goes  farther.     He  exhorts  the  slave 
not  only  to  transcend  his  servitude,  but  to  transfigure 

•  1  Cor.  vii.  22,  R.V.  *  Ibid.  23. 

•  Eph,  vi.  5.  «  1  Cor.  vii.  23,  R.V. 


254    CULTURE   OF  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

it.  There  was  the  danger  of  the  slave  acquiescing  in 
his  lot  with  a  sullenness  and  a  surliness  which  would 
spoil  him  as  a  servant  and  degrade  him  as  a  man.  He 
might  live  so  much  above  his  servitude  as  to  despise 
it  and  make  his  service  exasperating  to  himself  and  to 
those  to  whom  it  was  rendered.  The  Apostle  doubtless 
saw  this  disposition  already  fermenting  in  the  class. 
Nor  was  it  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the 
apparent  contradiction  between  the  position  assigned 
to  the  slave  in  the  Church  and  the  status  still  imposed 
upon  him  in  the  world.  But,  as  the  slaves  numbered 
a  large  proportion  of  the  converts,  this  spirit  of  in- 
subordination, if  it  were  allowed  to  spread,  would  bring 
Christianity  into  suspicion  and  contempt.  The  ordinary 
courtesies  of  their  station,  the  Apostle  held,  ought  to 
be  observed,  so  long  as  they  could  not  renounce  their 
station.  As  Christians,  they  should  "  count  their  own 
masters  worthy  of  all  honour,  that  the  name  of  God 
and  His  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed."  ^  It  was  a  debt 
which  the  slaves  owed  to  Him  who  had  set  them 
spiritually  free  by  His  Gospel,  which  had  brought  sun- 
shine into  their  lives.  So  long  as  they  were  slaves, 
they  should  be  Christian  slaves,  and  should  renounce 
the  habits  and  manners  of  the  common  slaves  of  the 
world.  They  must  get  rid  of  the  slave  spirit  by  living 
as  the  freed  men  of  the  Gospel  :  "  not  answering  again  ; 
not  purloining,  but  showing  all  good  fidelity  "  ^ ;  "  not 
with  eyeservice,  as  menpleasers  ;  but  in  singleness  of 
heart,  fearing  God."  ^  Indeed,  Paul  puts  the  Christian 
slaves  upon  their  honour,  as  having  a  most  important 
part  to  play  in  commending  the  Gospel  to  the  world. 
The  beauty  of  the  Gospel  was  to  be  exhibited  by 
»  I  Tim,  vi.  I.  *  Titus  ii.  9,  lo.  »  Col.  iii  22. 


BOUND  YET  FREE  255 

them.  They  were  to  be  the  ornaments  of  the  Christian 
community.  It  was  they  who  were  called  upon  to 
"  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things."  ^ 

There  was  one  thing,  however,  upon  which  Paul 
touched,  which  brought  hope  to  the  heart  of  the  slave. 
The  slave  had  no  rights,  no  property,  no  reward.  His 
labour  and  its  fruits  belonged  to  his  master.  He  might 
do  the  work,  but  he  was  a  mere  tool,  and  had  no  more 
expectation  of  being  benefited  thereby  than  if  he  were 
a  horse,  or  a  plough,  or  a  spade.  When  Paul  invites  him 
to  do  his  service  "  with  goodwill,"  "  as  to  the  Lord 
and  not  to  men,"  he  assures  him  that  in  doing  his  daily 
task  in  the  service  of  others  as  service  rendered  to 
Christ  he  shall  not  go  unrewarded.  He  may  earn  no 
money,  but  he  shall  earn  better  than  money.  The  deed 
he  does  shall  be  credited  to  him  as  his  own  by  the 
Master  in  heaven.  It  shall  belong  to  him  ;  and,  in 
the  doing  of  it,  it  shall  form  part  of  his  character,  a 
deciding  factor  in  the  shaping  of  his  destiny.  For  this 
law  holds  good  for  slave  as  for  master — "whatsoever 
good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same  shall  he  receive 
of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free."  ^  The  work 
of  the  slave  shall  be  reckoned  as  the  work  of  a  free 
man. 

Such  was  the  advice  which  Paul  gave  to  the  slave 
of  his  day.  But  he  did  still  more  for  him  by  his 
actions.  His  conduct  towards  the  bondman  shows 
that  he  himself  was  ripe  beyond  the  times  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  He  treated  him  as  a  man  and 
as  a  brother.  He,  at  least,  acknowledged  his  equality 
in  the  social  as  well  as  in  the  religious  sphere.  This 
is  evident  especially  in  his  bearing  towards  Onesimus, 
»  Titus  ii.  10.  »  Eph.  vi.  8 


256    CULTURE   OF  THE    SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  Colossian  runaway,  whom  he  had  picked  up  in 
Rome.  His  letter  to  Philemon,  the  master  and  owner 
of  Onesimus,  has  well  been  called  "  the  first  anti- 
slavery  petition."  It  contains  the  seed-thoughts  of  all 
that  followed.  This  Onesimus  Paul  had  begotten  in 
his  bonds.  He  is  "  my  son,"  and  Paul  had  fathered 
him  in  the  Gospel.^  Onesimus  had  responded  to  the 
affection  of  Paul,  and  had  ministered  unto  him,  as  a 
son  to  a  father,  and  a  servant  to  a  master.  It  was  like 
tearing  his  heart  out  to  part  with  this  man  ;  but  part 
they  must.  Paul  will  be  true  to  his  own  principles, 
and  the  runaway's  freedom  must  be  got  by  consent, 
not  by  constraint.  He  will  not  be  a  party  to  social 
disorder.  So  he  sends  the  slave  back  to  Philemon. 
But  he  delicately  insinuates  the  new  worth  of  the 
Christian  slave.  He  addresses  Philemon,  the  master, 
as  "  brother "  ;  but  he  does  not  hesitate  to  speak  of 
Onesimus,  the  slave,  as  "  a  brother  beloved."  ^  He 
acknowledges  that  the  bond  remains,  that  the  old 
relation  of  master  and  slave  still  stands  ;  but  both  are 
now  in  the  brotherhood.  He  himself  has  acted  towards 
the  slave  as  towards  a  brother,  and  he  suggests  to 
Philemon  to  go  beyond  the  request  to  regard  him  also 
as  such,  by  granting  him  his  liberty.^  But  the  Apostle 
goes  farther.  In  restoring  Onesimus  to  Philemon  by 
sending  him  back  to  Colosse,  he  introduces  the  slave, 
once  of  bad  repute,  to  the  Colossian  Church  as  "  a 
faithful  and  beloved  brother,  who  is  one  of  you."  * 

Both  from  his  advice  and  from  his  personal  example, 
it  is  apparent  that  Paul  believed  that  the  spiritual  life 
was  not  inconsistent  with  the  most  untoward  conditions. 
It  could  be  lived  in  any  environment.     He  who  brought 

'  Philem.  lo.        *  Ibid.  7,  16,  20.        ^  Ibid.  21.        *  Col,  iv.  9. 


BOUND  YET  FREE  257 

that  life  to  humanity  came  in  "  the  form  of  a  bond- 
servant "  ^ ;  He  was  among  us  "  as  he  that  serveth."  ^ 
So  the  new  spirit  could  rise  above  the  external  limitations, 
and  by  still  submitting  to  them  could  transfigure  them. 
It  was  something  to  have  learned  the  spirit  of  service, 
which,  after  all,  is  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  of  His  Gospel. 
The  slave  could  accept  his  position  as  qualifying  him 
for  Gospel  freedom  even  though  his  discipline  was 
hard  and  oppressive. 

But  Paul  rendered  a  further  service  to  the  slave  by 
laying  upon  Christian  masters  a  new  code  of  ethics  in 
their  treatment  of  him.  In  the  Apostle's  day  much 
of  the  harshness  and  cruelty  of  earlier  times  had  dis- 
appeared with  the  growth  of  humaner  feelings ;  but 
still  all  through  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  Greek 
States  this  better  attitude  towards  the  slave  was  devoid 
of  ethical  or  religious  sanction.  The  bondman  was  still 
a  thing,  a  chattel,  a  tool,  Paul  did  much  to  establish 
and  elevate  the  kindlier  sentiments  which  masters  had 
begun  to  cultivate,  by  giving  them  a  rational  basis  upon 
which  to  rest. 

"  Ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  unto  them,  for- 
bearing threatening."  ^  "  Masters,  give  unto  your 
servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal."  *  These  were 
new  ideas,  and  must  have  given  a  shock  of  surprise 
to  the  Pagan  mind.  How  could  masters  have  duties 
towards  slaves,  when  slaves  had  no  rights  ?  How  could 
there  be  reciprocity  in  obligation  ?  Why  should  masters 
not  threaten  if  they  would  ?  How  could  they  be  just 
and  equitable  towards  a  thing,  a  chattel  ?  Justice  and 
equity   cannot   be   due   to   those   who  cannot  demand 

^  Phil.  ii.  7,  R.V.  margin.  *  Luke  xxii.  27.  •  Eph.  vi.  9. 

«  Col.  iv.  I. 

17 


258    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

them.  Yet  Paul  enjoins  masters  to  treat  slaves  as 
men  who  have  rights,  inherent  natural  rights,  which 
although  they  are  not  asserted  are  none  the  less  due, 
and  he  enjoins  them  to  treat  themselves  as  men  who 
have  duties  which  they  cannot  renounce. 

On  what  are  these  duties  based  ?  They  are  based 
upon  two  great  facts — the  relation  in  which  masters 
stand  to  the  Master,  and  the  nature  of  the  Master's 
character.  These  two  facts  change  the  relation  of 
masters  towards  slaves,  and  change  even  the  characters 
of  masters  themselves. 

"  Knowing  that  your  Master  also  is  in  heaven."  ^  In 
relation  to  slaves  they  are  masters,  but  they  are  them- 
selves slaves  in  relation  to  Christ.  Both  masters  and 
slaves  occupy  the  same  position  in  this  higher  relation. 
Here  is  their  essential  equality,  upon  which  is  based 
reciprocity  in  duty.  They  must  learn  to  "  do  the  same 
things "  to  one  another,  for  they  are  alike  men  and 
servants  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  slave  is  to  serve  his 
master,  and  in  serving  him  to  serve  the  Lord ;  but 
the  master  also  is  to  respect  the  slave,  for  his  treatment 
of  the  slave  is  part  of  that  service  which  he  has  to 
render  to  his  Master,  Jesus  Christ.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  Me."  * 

But  the  giving  to  servants  of  "  that  which  is  just 
and  equal "  is  a  duty  which  is  based  upon  the  character 
of  that  Master  whose  servants  masters  are  :  "  Neither 
is  there  respect  of  persons  with  Him."^  He  is  just 
and  equal  in  His  dealing  with  master  and  slave.  Men 
may  show  greater  respect  to  masters,  and  credit  them 
with  all  the  rights  and  none  of  the  duties,  but  justice 
'  Eph.  vi.  9.  '  Matt.  xxv.  40.  ^  Eph.  vi.  9. 


BOUND  YET  FREE  259 

and  equality  are  the  characteristics  of  God,  and  He 
respects  neither  master  nor  slave  because  He  respects 
both.  Now,  if  He  who  is  the  Master  of  masters,  and 
has  a  right  to  the  service  of  masters,  is  Himself  just 
and  equal  in  his  character  and  dealings.  He  has  a  right 
to  demand  of  His  servants  that  they  be  just  and  equal 
in  their  character  and  in  their  dealings  with  their  slaves. 
In  this  way  the  slave  emerges  into  the  Christian 
consciousness  as  more  than  a  mere  thing :  he  is  a 
man  with  rights  as  well  as  duties.  The  master  also 
becomes  more  than  the  possessor  of  a  chattel :  he  is 
a  servant  of  Christ  in  relation  to  his  own  servants, 
and  has  duties  as  well  as  rights.  And,  just  as  the 
slave  could  be  a  servant  of  Christ  though  a  slave 
of  men,  so  the  master  must  be  a  servant  of  Christ 
in  being  a  master  of  men.  The  service  the  latter 
renders  to  his  slaves  is  the  service  he  owes  to  Christ, 
just  as  the  service  of  the  former  rendered  to  men  is 
service  rendered  to  Him  who  is  the  Master  of  both. 
There  is  here,  therefore,  the  ethical  and  religious  basis 
upon  which  the  great  problem  of  emancipation  was 
to  be  solved,  with  much  struggle  and  not  without 
bloodshed,  during  the  course  of  the  ages.  Paul  struck 
the  rock,  and  struck  it  at  the  true  line  of  cleavage ;  each 
successive  blow  struck  afterwards  by  others  hastened 
the  breaking  of  the  rock  asunder.  But  it  should  never 
be  forgotten  that  the  first  blow  was  his.  He  discovered 
the  vulnerable  spot.  He  furnished  the  hammer  also, 
and,  having  himself  struck,  passed  it  into  the  hands  of 
others. 


AN  APOLOGY   FOR    THE    WEAK  AND    OBSCURE 


a6i 


"As  to  what  we  call  the  masses  and  common  men  ;  there  are  no 
ccmmon  men.  All  men  are  at  last  of  a  size;  and  true  art  is  only 
possible,  on  the  conviction  that  every  talent  has  its  apotheosis  somewhere, 
Fairplay,  and  an  open  field,  and  freshest  laurels  to  all  who  have  won 
them  !  But  heaven  reserves  an  equal  scope  for  every  creature.  Each 
is  uneasy  until  he  has  produced  his  private  ray  into  the  concave  sphere, 
and  beheld  his  talent  also  in  its  last  nobility  and  exaltation." — Emerson's 
Representative  Men. 

"Surely  no  achievements  of  the  Christian  Church  are  more  truly 
great  than  those  which  it  has  effected  in  the  sphere  of  charity.  ...  It 
has  covered  the  globe  with  countless  institutions  of  mercy,  absolutely 
unknown  to  the  Pagan  world." — Lecky's  History  of  European  Morals. 


86a 


CHAPTER    XVIII 
AN  APOLOGY  FOR    THE    WEAK  AND  OBSCURE 

COMPASSION  was  but  a  rudimentary  virtue  in 
the  scheme  of  heathen  morality.  Usually  the 
weak,  the  humble,  and  the  obscure  were  neglected  or 
despised.  Right  went  with  might.  Honour  was 
bestowed  upon  the  strong.  The  policy  of  nature  was 
too  often  the  policy  of  man  ;  the  fittest  survived,  and 
the  weak  were  allowed  to  go  to  the  wall,  to  sit  in 
the  shade,  to  wither  and  die.  Christ  gathered  up  the 
fragments,  found  new  uses  for  the  potsherds,  sunned 
the  feeble  with  His  favours,  healed  the  sick,  comforted 
the  mourner,  encouraged  the  feeble-hearted,  and  re- 
habilitated the  neglected  portions  of  humanity. 

Paul,  entering  sympathetically  into  the  genius  of  the 
new  religion,  made  a  striking  apology  for  the  weak, 
the  humble,  and  the  obscure — an  apology  which  has 
left  an  indelible  impression  upon  the  Christian  character. 
It  was  not  an  easy  task  to  root  out  the  old  disposition 
from  those  who  had  come  into  the  heritage  of  the 
new  life.  It  sprung  up  in  many  forms  within  the 
Church  itself,  and  Paul  struck  at  it  there,  knowing 
that  if  he  could  kill  it  in  the  Church  it  was  not  likely 
to  survive  with  such  vigour  in  a  community  in  which 
Christians  set  the  standard  of  conduct. 

It  was  in  the  Corinthian  Church  especially  that  the 

363 


264    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Apostle  saw  the  old  heathen  disposition  of  self- 
assertiveness  displaying  itself.  Those  who  had  special 
gifts  of  grace  exercised  lordship  over  the  commonplace 
people  who  sat  silent  in  obscure  corners  ;  the  honoured 
were  greedy  of  honour ;  the  prominent  sat  proudly  in 
high  places  as  a  spiritual  aristocracy,  regarding  the 
common  herd  as  existing  only  to  feed  their  ambition. 
As  a  result  pride  begat  prejudice ;  self-aggrandisement, 
depression ;  ambition,  jealousy ;  the  somebodies,  the 
nobodies. 

Paul  protested  against  the  invasion  of  the  Church 
by  a  spirit  foreign  to,  and  destructive  of,  its  very 
existence.  But  whilst  exorcising  this  evil  spirit,  he  pro- 
pounded a  theory  of  the  Church,  which  gave  a  proper 
place  to  the  weak  and  the  humble  and  the  obscure, 
and  offered  a  rational  basis  for  a  change  in  the  old 
aristocratic  disposition.  The  Church  is  a  living  organism, 
the  body  of  Christ,  in  which  each  organ  has  its  assigned 
function,  and  is  worthy  of  honour  according  as  it  fulfils 
that  function.  The  body  is  not  all  eye,  not  all  hand, 
not  all  tongue.  These  were  nothing  without  feet  and 
legs,  stomach  and  heart.  The  hidden  and  obscure  are 
as  necessary  as  the  visible  and  prominent ;  the  uncomely 
as  the  comely.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  unity  sub- 
sisting in  diversity,  one  body  with  many  organs ; 
having  one  life  and  purpose  with  many  parts  and 
functions  harmoniously  co-operating.  It  is  a  living 
tree  with  many  roots  and  branches  and  twigs  and 
leaves  ;  not  a  dead  log.  It  is  a  Gothic  pile,  with  apse 
and  nave,  and  pillar  and  tracery  ;  not  a  four-walled 
barn.  It  is  a  full-voiced  chorus  with  complex  harmony  ; 
not  a  solo  or  a  song  sung  in  unison.  The  obscure  and 
subsidiary   have   their   place   in    the   Church    and    are 


THE   WEAK   AND   OBSCURE  265 

necessary.  The  hidden  roots  are  necessary  to  the 
umbrageous  tree,  the  unseen  foundation  to  the  cathedral, 
the  humble  chorister  to  the  leading  voices.  The  strong 
nged  the  weak ;  the  prominent,  the  obscure ;  the  honoured, 
the  despised.  There  is  a  place  in  the  economy  of  the 
Church  for  the  feeblest  member  of  it.  "  Much  more  those 
members  of  the  body,  which  seem  to  be  more  feeble 
[not  are ;  for  no  organ,  however  humble  or  obscure  in 
itself,  is  feeble  if  it  fulfils  its  function],  are  necessary."  ^ 

But  this  need  of  the  obscure  creates  a  claim  for 
honour.  The  whole  body  is  interested  in  the  health 
and  activity  of  each  part.  There  is  a  solidarity  and 
symmetry  in  the  body  which  demands  that  the  whole 
be  respected  by  every  part  receiving  due  attention. 
The  beauty  of  the  open  face  requires  from  us  no 
decoration.  God  has  bestowed  honour  upon  it.  Eye 
and  brow,  and  cheek  and  chin,  give  expression  to  the 
soul's  beauty,  and  are  in  themselves  comely,  and  have 
an  inherent  honour  of  their  own.  We  do  not  need 
to  bestow  honour  upon  them  :  God  has  done  that. 
"  Our  comely  parts  have  no  need."  ^  But  our  uncomely 
parts  have  need.  We  are  not  all  face.  The  beauty 
of  the  face  requires  that  the  rest  of  the  body  be 
adorned  with  appropriate  dress,  that  the  whole  body 
may  be  beautiful.  God  has  so  "  tempered  "  ^  the  body 
that  the  parts  which  He  has  specially  honoured  with 
comeliness  should  so  honour  the  uncomely  as  to  make 
the  whole  comely  and  honourable.  This  is  what  the 
body  owes  to  itself.  There  must,  therefore,  be  no 
schism  in  the  body  ;  "  the  members  should  have  the 
same  care  one  for  another,"  ^  for  they  are  parts  of  a 
symmetrical    structure   in    which   nothing    is    ugly   or 

•  I  Cor.  xii.  22.  »  Ibid.yi^.  •  Ibid.  ♦  Ibid  25. 


266    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

useless  or  base.  The  body  has  the  care  of  making 
the  tout-ensemble  beautiful.  Our  very  dress  has  an 
ethical  and  spiritual  significance. 

Nor  is  that  all.  Pursuing  the  analogy  farther,  the 
Apostle  touches  a  deeper  chord.  The  very  life  of  one 
member  is  indissolubly  bound  up  in  the  life  of  the 
other — comely  or  uncomely,  honoured  or  unhonoured. 
The  disease  of  the  obscurest  part  may  cloud  the  beauty 
of  the  face  ;  the  health  of  the  unseen  organs  makes 
"  all  the  members  rejoice  "  ^ ;  the  shame  of  one  brings 
shame  on  all.  This  is  so  because  of  the  solidarity 
of  the  body  as  a  living,  harmonious  unity,  in  which 
no  part  can  suffer  or  rejoice  without  the  thrill  of 
joy  or  anguish  passing  through  the  whole.  It  is, 
therefore,  upon  the  organic  unity  and  solidarity  of 
the  Church,  as  the  body  of  Christ,  that  the  Apostle 
founds  his  plea  and  apology  for  the  weak,  the  un- 
comely, and  the  obscure.  They,  too,  have  their 
necessary  place  in  the  economy,  and  have  a  pre- 
eminent claim  to  honour. 

In  all  this  quiet  undermining  of  the  old  standards 
of  worth  and  honour  Paul  was  in  complete  harmony 
with  the  Spirit  of  Christ  The  Master  Himself  passed 
by  the  great  and  the  prominent,  and  set  the  obscure 
and  unapplauded  in  high  place.  The  Apostles  whom 
He  selected  were  humble  and  unlettered  men.  Fisher- 
men were  preferred  to  Rabbis.  He  lavished  His  love 
upon  the  uncomely  members  of  society — the  diseased, 
the  dejected,  the  wastrel,  the  despised,  the  outcast. 
He  honoured  mean  men  by  sitting  at  their  table  as 
a  guest.  He  recognised  the  place  of  feeble  children 
in  the  social  economy,  and  spoke  tenderly  of  their  worth 
'  I  Cor.  xii.  26. 


THE   WEAK  AND  OBSCURE  267 

for  its  welfare.  He  recognised,  and  indeed  discovered, 
the  value  of  the  by-products  and  waste  of  humanity, 
and  transformed  them  into  social  usefulness  and  beauty. 
He  gathered  up  the  human  fragments  so  that  nothing 
should  be  lost. 

Nor  did  Paul  fail  to  exemplify  his  plea  by  his  own 
teaching  and  example.  He  did  not  despise  the  highest 
gifts.  But  when  he  praised  the  flower  he  did  not 
forget  the  gnarled  stump,  the  hidden  roots,  the  feeble 
fibres,  which  contributed  to  its  life  and  beauty.  Those 
who  had  learning,  and  eloquence,  and  high  spiritual 
vision,  were  not  to  be  applauded  at  the  expense  of 
the  multitude,  who  could  only  live  a  commonplace, 
though  not  common,  life  of  homely  piety,  charitable- 
ness, sweetness  of  temper,  and  unquestioning  faith. 
The  self-effacing  grace  of  love  was  to  him  the  superior 
of  all,  and  he  honoured  it  with  a  eulogium  which 
still  echoes  through  every  Christian  heart.  When  we 
read  over  the  lists  of  men  and  women  whom  he  greeted 
with  his  fne  courtesy  and  discernment,  what  do  we 
know  of  the  persons  whose  names  are  enshrined  in 
them  ?  They  are  nearly  all  the  "  feeble,"  who  were 
"necessary,"  unrecognised  then,  now  unrecognisable. 
They  did  their  part  in  their  time  as  humble  day- 
labourers,  obscure  hodmen,  in  building  up  the  edifice 
of  the  Church.  The  master-builders  needed  them, 
however,  and  he,  as  a  wise  master-builder,  gave  them 
the  "  abundant  honour "  which  in  themselves  they 
lacked.^ 

The  same  principle  of  judgment  has  a  wider  area 
of  application  than  the  Church.  The  weak  and  un- 
comely and  frail  have  their  place  also  in  the  home, 
'  I  Cor.  xii.  24. 


268     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

and  claim  our  compassion  and  our  honour.  The  infant 
in  its  feebleness  is  beatified  by  parental  affection,  but 
it  awakens  a  new  beauty  and  grace  and  tenderness 
in  the  hearts,  and  the  very  faces,  of  its  father  and 
mother.  The  sickness  of  one  member  is  felt  by 
all,  and  creates  a  sympathy  with  suffering  which  ex- 
tends its  gentle  ministrations  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  home.  There  is  in  the  home  a  communism  in 
affliction  and  joy,  in  sorrow  and  honour  and  shame. 
Those  members  "which  seem  to  be  more  feeble,  are 
necessary." 

In  society  also  the  truth  of  this  holds  equally  good. 
The  obscure  and  unapplauded  are  necessary,  and  they 
are  to  be  honoured.  The  world  might  get  on  without 
its  millionaires,  but  not  without  its  day-labourers. 
Money  is  nothing  without  labour.  Where  would  the 
landlord  be  if  the  farmer  did  not  till  the  soil  ?  Poets 
and  philosophers  give  grace  to  society,  but  the  food- 
producers  are  indispensable.  A  nation  of  millionaires 
and  poets  and  philosophers  is  impossible.  Even  they 
have  to  be  fed  and  clothed.  West-end  needs  East-end  ; 
and  common  men  who  lead  hidden  lives  of  virtue 
and  industry  and  honesty  are  the  bones  and  muscle  and 
blood  of  the  body  politic.  The  nation,  like  the  Church, 
must  be  "  tempered  "  so  that  the  unhonoured  receive 
honour  from  the  honoured. 

But  the  Apostle  formulates  this  principle  in  another 
way  and  gives  it  the  highest  religious  sanction.  "  We 
then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of 
the  weak,  and  not  to  please  ourselves.  Let  every  one 
of  us  please  his  neighbour  for  his  good  to  edification. 
For  even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself"^  Self-pleasing 
'  Rom.  XV.  1-3. 


THE  WEAK   AND   OBSCURE  269 

is  alien  to  the  Christian  temper.  In  the  Christian 
community  all  must  work  for  an  end  which  is  above 
self  and  yet  includes  it.  The  higher  self  is  found  in 
the  Church,  which  each  must  labour  to  *'  edify,"  as  his 
spiritual  home.  But  there  are  within  the  Church  those 
who  have  what  we  regard  as  "  infirmities  " — the  prejudices 
and  scruples  and  imperfections  which  are  incidental 
to  a  weak  faith — a  faith  that  has  not  realised  its  full 
privileges  and  powers.  The  "  strong  "  are  not  to  crush 
these,  not  to  depise  them,  not  to  domineer  over  them. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  all  have  the  same 
view  of  Christ.  It  is  necessary  that  we  should  all  see 
the  same  Christ,  though  not  from  the  same  angle. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  all  approach  Him 
by  the  same  road.  Many  roads  lead  to  Christ,  and 
men  may  reach  Him  at  last  from  all  points  of  the 
compass — some,  indeed,  by  strange  untrodden  paths. 
We  need  not  thrust  our  views,  or  convictions,  upon 
others.  "  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith,  receive  ye, 
but  not  to  doubtful  disputations."  We  need  not  knock 
him  down  because  he  differs  from  us.  "  He  shall  be 
holden  up  :  for  God  is  able  to  make  him  stand."  ^  All 
opinionativeness  is  self-pleasing.  We  may  have  a 
larger  faith  and  a  broader  liberty  and  a  wider  mental 
horizon  ;  but  when  we  impose  these  upon  others  we 
may  wreck  their  faith,  make  them  suspicious  of  their 
liberty,  and  fill  their  horizon  with  clouds.  Everything 
grows  from  within  a  man,  roots  itself  in  his  instincts 
and  education  and  experience,  but  the  faith  that  is 
imposed  upon  him  by  others  is  only  cast-off  clothing 
which  may  be  better  than  his  own  clothes,  but  does 
not  fit.  We  must  learn  to  please  others,  not  by  the  way 
*  Rom.  xiv  1-4. 


270    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

of  pleasing  ourselves,  but  by  the  way  of  edifying  them. 
Our  victories  over  them  are  to  be  found  in  lifting 
them  up.  The  end  we  have  in  view  is  not  to  triumph 
over  others,  but  to  make  them  triumph  over  themselves. 
The  spiritual  destiny  of  others  is  what  we  must  ever 
seek.  For  us  Christ  sacrificed  everything  that  we  might 
be  built  up  as  living  stones  in  the  living  temple.  "  Even 
Christ  pleased  not   Himself."  ^ 

The  principle,  however,  which  is  to  guide  the  strong 
is  not  one  from  which  the  weak  are  exempt.  Both 
come  under  the  general  law  of  love — that  altruistic  self- 
love,  if  we  might  so  call  it,  which  is  the  motive  power 
of  all  Christian  conduct.  "  By  love  serve  one  another. 
For  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this  : 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  ^  Here  self- 
pleasing  and  neighbour-pleasing  meet  and  merge. 
When  I  identify  myself  with  my  neighbour,  and  make 
him  part  of  my  life,  both  being  members  of  the  one 
body  of  Christ,  my  pleasure  is  found  in  him,  and  his 
in  me.  "  Wherefore  comfort  yourselves  together,  and 
edify  one  another  "  ^  :  that  is  the  highest  self-comfort 
and  self-edification.  But  when  the  law  of  love  is 
broken,  edification  ceases.  Love  builds  up,  strife  breaks 
down.  Love  secures  mutual  victories,  strife  procures 
mutual  destruction.  When  the  spirit  of  self-assertion 
manifests  itself  in  a  Church  and  one  contends  with 
another  for  the  mastery,  the  victory  of  either  is  the 
defeat  of  both.  The  spirit  of  brotherhood  is  extinguished 
by  contention.  "But  if  ye  bite  and  devour  one  another, 
take  heed  ye  be  not  consumed  one  of  another."* 
*'  There  should  be  no  schism  in  the  body :   but   that 

»  Rom.  XV.  3.  *  Gal.  v.  13,  14.  *  I  Thess.  v.  1 1, 

*  Gal.  V.  15. 


THE  WEAK   AND   OBSCURE  271 

the  members  should  have  the  same  care  one  for 
another."  ^ 

If  this  principle  holds  good  with  regard  to  feeble 
faith,  it  holds  equally  good  with  regard  to  moral  frailty. 
In  his  application  of  it  in  this  direction  Paul  exhales 
again  the  spirit  of  Christ.  His  apology  for  the 
morally  feeble  is  contained  in  a  passage  which  breathes 
the  tenderness  of  humility.  It  is  brief  but  complete. 
"  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye 
which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit 
of  meekness ;  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be 
tempted.  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil 
the  law  of  Christ."  ^ 

The  appeal  is  addressed  to  "brethren,"  members  of 
the  same  spiritual  family,  with  the  same  Father, 
sharing  each  other's  sorrow  and  joy,  honour  and  shame  ; 
brethren  in  sin,  and  brethren  in  redemption.  The 
sympathetic  restoration  of  an  erring  brother  follows 
naturally  from  such  a  relationship.  But  Paul,  as  is 
his  wont,  gives  the  ethical  duty  a  spiritual  sanction 
and  support.  He  finds  that  this  simple  duty  is  "  the 
law  of  Christ " — ^  law  which  He  not  only  uttered, 
but  exemplified.  We  may  turn,  therefore,  to  examine 
the  method  of  Christ  in  dealing  with  moral  frailty : 
that  method  becomes  the  norm  of  Christian  conduct. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  hard  words  of  Christ  were 
not  spoken  of  the  sinner,  but  were  reserved  for  the 
hypocrite.  It  was  not  the  contradiction  of  sinners  that 
aroused  the  denunciation  of  Jesus  :  it  was  the  con- 
tradiction of  the  saints — the  brazen  pride  and  prudery 
which  claimed  mercy  and  gave  none.  When  Christ 
overtook  a  man  in  a  fault  He  did  not  seek  to  punish 
^  I  Cor.  xii.  25.  '  Gal.  vi.  1,  2. 


272     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

him.  He  brought  home  the  sense  of  wrong  by  creating 
the  sense  of  right.  He  taught  men  to  rebuke  them- 
selves— which  is  always  a  severer  rebuke  than  the  rebuke 
of  others.  He  saw  the  man  in  the  sinner,  and,  by 
revealing  Himself  as  The  Man,  awakened  in  the 
sinner  a  new  sense  of  manhood  and  of  its  claims.  In 
this  way  He  elicited  penitence.  But  that  was  not  all. 
He  transferred  the  sinner's  burden  to  Himself,  made 
the  sinner's  cross  His  own,  interpreted  the  deep, 
dumb  desire  for  good  in  the  heart  of  the  evil-doer, 
and  surprised  him  with  trust  and  confidence  and 
hope. 

The  method  of  Jesus,  said  the  Apostle,  must  be  ours. 
If  Christ  did  not  think  it  His  duty  to  denounce,  we 
cannot  claim  it  as  our  right.  If  we  are  free  of  the  sin 
we  rebuke,  is  it  not  of  grace  ?  There  is  no  sin  which 
another  has  committed  which  we  have  not  the  capacity 
to  commit.  Every  sin  springs  from  the  same  root — 
sins  from  sin.  When  a  censorious  saint  came  proudly  to 
one  of  the  Fathers  and  told  him  how  one  of  the  brethren 
had  fallen,  the  good  man  replied,  "  He  fell  yesterday  ; 
I  may  fall  to-day."  "  Consider  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted."  We  must  learn  to  project  ourselves  with 
sympathy  into  the  sinner's  place,  so  as  to  see  ourselves 
in  him.  We  do  not  heal  a  wound  by  rubbing  salt 
into  it.  When  we  suffer  with  the  offender,  bearing 
his  burden  as  if  his  suffering  were  our  own,  he  sees 
in  us  that  sorrow  for  sin  which  he  himself  has  not 
experienced.  The  sinner  has  to  learn  that  sin  crucifies 
all  that  is  best  in  a  man.  He  may  learn  that  lesson 
in  Christ  through  the  Christian.  Till  he  learns  that, 
he  is  impenitent,  denounce  him  as  we  may.  When 
he   has    learned    that,    he    knows    something    of    the 


THE  WEAK  AND   OBSCURE  273 

significance  of  the   cross,   and  abhors   himself  in  dust 
and  ashes. 

The  censoriousness  of  '  the  spiritual '  did  not  escape 
the  notice  of  the  Apostle,  and  it  is  not  without  a  touch 
of  irony  that  he  writes  :  "  Ye  that  are  spiritual  restore 
such  an  one."  Censoriousness  is  the  sign  of  rawness, 
not  of  ripeness,  in  the  Christian  character.  It  is  the 
reaction  of  the  sinner  against  sin ;  only,  instead  of 
spending  itself  on  his  own  sins  he  exercises  it  on  the 
sins  of  others.  As  men  grow  in  grace,  they  grow  in 
tenderness.  The  Christian  has  to  learn  the  divine  art 
of  encouragement  and  restoration.  By  this  he  stoops 
and  lifts  up  the  downcast,  and  keeps  his  own  soul  sweet 
and  wholesome.  And  he  must  go  even  farther.  When 
he  lifts  him  up  he  must  also  take  a  lift  of  his  burden. 
It  is  not  enough  to  forbear,  to  be  silent,  not  to 
interfere.  He  must  bear :  put  his  back  beneath  his 
neighbour's  load,  and  let  him  feel  something  of  the 
power  of  Christ.  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens." 
It  is  part  of  the  method  of  Jesus  in  His  dealing  with 
the  Christian  ;  and  the  Christian,  according  to  his 
power,  must  make  it  his  own  in  dealing  with  the 
morally  frail. 

There  are  two  interesting  applications  of  this  principle. 
The  one  refers  to  the  weak  in  the  inner  circle  of 
domestic  life,  the  other  to  those  in  the  outer  circle  of 
society.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Paul  has  displayed  in 
his  letters  very  little  of  Christ's  tenderness  for  children. 
Perhaps  occasion  was  wanting ;  perhaps  the  lonely  and 
somewhat  homeless  life  of  a  childless  man  failed  to 
elicit  this  refining  quality  in  his  soul.  But  he  certainly 
did  show  great  tenderness  to  the  aged  and  lonely  and 
unfortunate,  whose  presence  in  the  home  was  for   the 

IS 


274    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

most  part  more  tolerated  than  welcome.  The  position 
of  widowhood  in  the  domestic  life  of  antiquity  appealed 
to  his  fine  Christian  instincts.  The  widow  was  despised 
for  her  misfortune.  She  had  fallen  out  of  her  lot,  and 
to  a  large  extent  out  of  honour  and  liberty.  No  doubt, 
the  active  benevolence  of  Christianity  opened  up  a  new 
sphere  of  usefulness  for  the  widow,  and  gave  her  a  new 
avenue  for  the  exercise  of  her  womanly  instincts  and 
inclinations.  But  it  also  claimed  for  her  that  honour 
which  the  weak  had  been  denied,  but  which  was  her 
due.  The  Apostle  enjoins  that  the  Church  should  not 
see  any  widow  of  its  number  neglected.  It  must  honour 
her  as  a  feeble  member  of  Christ's  body,  that  the  whole 
body  might  be  fair  and  comely  in  the  eyes  of  Christ. 
Children  and  grandchildren  were  not,  however,  to  cast 
aged  widows  upon  the  support  of  the  Church.  Their 
filial  duty  was  inalienable.  Their  membership  of  the 
larger  organisation  of  the  Church  did  not  supersede  the 
natural  obligations  of  the  family  ;  no  spirituality  could 
atone  for  the  neglect  of  kith  and  kin.  "  Let  them  learn 
first  to  show  piety  at  home."  ^  The  younger  must  provide 
for  the  older,  the  strong  for  the  weak,  in  the  domestic 
circle. 

So  also  the  younger  widows,  daughters  and  daughters- 
in-law,  had  a  claim  for  honour  and  sympathy.  They 
were  generally  unprovided  for,  and  their  blighted  lives 
were  often  maintained  by  a  grudged  charity.  The 
Apostle  appeals  to  the  older  members  of  the  family 
to  help  the  younger  in  their  misfortune.  The  ties 
of  blood  and  of  faith  make  this  a  duty  to  be  cheer- 
fully rendered.  "If  any  man  or  woman  that  believeth 
have  widows,  let  them  relieve  them,  and  let  not 
^  I  Tim.  V.  4. 


THE  WEAK  AND   OBSCURE  275 

the  church  be  charged."  ^  "  But  if  any  provide  not 
for  his  own,  and  specially  for  those  of  his  own  house, 
he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
infidel."  2 

The  other  application  is  to  the  outer  circle  of  society 
- — the  general  poor — the  weak  in  wealth.     In  the  early 
Church   the   poor    formed    a    large   proportion    of   its 
membership,  and  the  Church  was  forced  to  meet  their 
needs.     The  Apostle  felt,  however,  that  this  providential 
circumstance  had  a  moral  compensation,  for  it  enabled 
Christians  to  realise  the  true  ethics  of  work  and  money. 
Property,   the   right   to  possess,  is  the  impulse  of  free 
personal    development.     The    man  who  works  has  op- 
portunity to   bring   out   the   best  that  is  in   him,  and 
by  his  money  to  give  new  value  to  his  life.     But  the 
object  of  property  and  labour  is  not  self-aggrandisement' 
which   alway  debases   work   and  degrades  the  worker. 
We  get  to  give.     The  moral  value  of  property  is  not 
exhausted    in  the  pleasure  of  the  possessor :   it  should 
add   to   the   efficiency   of  the   social    whole,   which   in 
many  ways  has  contributed  to  its  acquirement  and  its 
security.     The  money  of  one  is  made  by  the  co-operative 
labour    of    many ;   so   that   possession    carries    with   it 
distinct  obligations  to  the  working  world.     The  selfish- 
ness of  the  miser  and  the  money-grabber   is   rebuked, 
and  property  and  labour  are  sanctified  by  an  altruistic 
end  :  "  Let   him  labour,   working  with   his  hands   the 
thing  which  is  good,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him 
that  needeth."  ^     But   idleness  is  not  condoned.     It   is 
not  an  arrangement  of  providence  that  the  idle  poor 
should    exist   as   affording   an  opportunity  and  sphere 
of  benevolence  to  the  idle  rich.     The  Apostle  maintains 
1  I  Tim.  V.  16.  »  Ibid.  8.  »  Eph.  iv.  28. 


276    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

the  dignity  and  duty  of  labour.  "If  any  will  not  work 
[not,  if  any  man  does  not  work],  neither  let  him  eat." ' 
The  can't-works  and  out-of-works  should  be  fed — they 
are  living  members  of  the  social  body,  and  should  be 
honoured ;  but  the  will-not-works,  the  wastrel  and  the 
loafer,  as  parasites  of  society,  are  to  be  starved  into 
honest  labour. 

»  2  Thess.  iii.  lo,  R.V. 


ON  OVER-SPIRITUALITY 


977 


"  Even  Luther  said  of  his  adherents,  that  they  were  like  Solomon's 
fleet :  some  brought  back  gold  and  silver,  but  the  younger  peacocks  and 
apes."— PusEY. 

"  He    wants    better    bread    than    can    be    made    with    wheat."—  De 

QUINCEY. 


■78 


CHAPTER    XIX 
ON  OVER-SPIRITUALITY 

THE  religion  of  Jesus  brought  with  it  intellectual 
and  moral  demands  that  were  strange  to  the 
Christian  mind  which  had  just  emerged  out  of  Paganism, 
Paul  apprehended  that  there  were  many  dangers  im- 
manent in  the  effort  to  found  a  Church  among  the 
Gentiles.  The  Church  had  not  only  to  grasp  firmly 
the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  faith,  but  it  had  to  accom- 
modate itself,  as  well  as  accustom  itself,  to  the  new  ethical 
principles  of  its  Founder.  The  infant  Churches  were 
subjected  to  a  severe  test  by  the  pressure  of  Paganism 
in  their  several  environments.  For  this  reason  Paul 
had  to  nurse  them  and  had  to  teach  them  how  to  spell 
out  the  new  doctrines  of  grace  and  how  to  walk  in  the 
new  life  of  faith. 

The  difficulties  which  met  him  were  incidental  to  the 
early  years  of  the  Church's  life.  They  presented  them- 
selves in  almost  every  centre  in  which  Christians  were 
associated.  Here  the  new  converts,  in  the  exuberance 
of  their  faith,  revelled  in  the  extraordinary  gifts  bestowed 
upon  them,  and  were  inclined  to  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  ordinary  interests  and  duties  of  life  ;  there 
they  lived  on  the  borderland  of  Paganism  and  made 
compromises    with    its   ethical    ideals    and    standards. 

879 


28o     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

Here  they  corrupted  the  distinctive  creed  of  the  Church 
by  assimilating  too  readily  the  prevailing  ideas  of  the 
day  ;  there  they  tended  to  make  Christianity  little  more 
than  the  latest  of  the  many  schools  of  philosophy.  At 
one  time  the  Christian  life,  in  its  protest  against  the 
surrounding  vices  of  the  world,  veered  towards  asceticism 
and  was  threatened  with  the  loss  of  breadth  and  sanity ; 
at  another  time  the  free  life  of  the  spirit  was  fettered 
with  new  laws  and  ritual  and  suffered  from  a  recru- 
descence of  legalism. 

In  these  ways  the  Church,  in  shaping  its  course 
during  its  first  years,  was  in  danger  of  drifting  now  into 
the  shoal  and  then  into  the  backwater,  and  needed  the 
clear  vision  and  the  strong  hand  of  the  Apostle  to  keep 
it  resolutely  in  the  main  current  of  Christian  thought 
and  life.  The  constant  tendency  of  the  young  Church 
to  shift  the  emphasis,  to  change  the  perspective,  to 
upset  the  balance  of  truth  and  life  under  the  desperate 
impingement  of  heathenism  on  every  side  of  it,  forced 
Paul  not  only  to  define,  but  to  defend  the  Gospel — and 
to  defend  it  not  so  much  against  its  enemies  without  as 
against  its  misguided  friends  within. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  are  led  to  study  some  of 
the  aberrations  which  threatened  to  weaken  or  corrupt 
the  Church.  As  these  aberrations  are  not  merely  ten- 
dencies begotten  by  the  peculiarities  of  apostolic  times, 
but  are  deep-seated  in  human  nature  itself,  they  are 
constantly  reappearing  in  the  Church's  history,  and 
may  therefore  be  studied  with  more  than  antiquarian 
interest.  On  account  of  this  fact  Paul's  Epistles,  as 
containing  his  polemic  against  the  excesses  and  eccentri- 
cities and  deviations  to  which  the  Christian  life  is  subject, 
form   an  indispensable   handbook   for   every   Christian 


ON   OVER-SPIRITUALITY  281 

Church  which  seeks  to  steer  its  course  in  the  deep  and 
safe  waters  of  the  mid-stream  of  Christian  truth  and 
hoh'ness.  These  aberrations  of  Paul's  time — Over- 
spirituality,  Intellectualism,  Asceticism,  and  Legalism — 
present  to  us  types  of  degeneration  not  unfamiliar  to 
the  studious  observer  of  Church  life  even  in  the 
present  day. 

The  first  of  these  aberrations  which  we  notice  is 
Over-spirituality.  We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  there 
were  converts  who  were  too  spiritually  minded.  But 
there  was,  as  there  always  is,  a  tendency  to  run  after, 
affect,  and  emphasise  the  extraordinary,  the  extravagant 
and  the  exclusive ;  to  indulge  in  spiritual  exercises 
which  are  not  the  natural  expression  of  spirituality 
of  mind  ;  and  sometimes  to  substitute  the  spiritual 
form  for  the  spiritual  reality — a  tendency  to  ostentation 
and  singularity  and  the  needless  advertisement  of  dis- 
tinctiveness from  the  world. 

The  young  converts,  surrounded  by  the  stupendous 
forces  of  a  dominant  Paganism,  needed  wisdom  to 
temper  their  zeal.  They  were  apt  to  become  heady 
and  over-assertive,  and  to  claim  a  spirituality  which 
was  their  nascent  ideal  rather  than  their  present 
possession,  Paul  had  a  difficult  task  in  regulating  a 
zeal  which  was  as  natural  as  it  was  dangerous.  On 
the  one  hand,  he  had  to  restrain  it  from  breaking 
through  wholesome  limits  and  thus  hastening  disaster 
instead  of  working  reform.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
had  to  guard  against  damping  down  the  sacred  fires 
that  had  been  kindled,  lest,  for  want  of  courage  and 
thoroughness,  the  young  converts  should  become  com- 
promising and  effeminate. 

Over-spirituality  showed  itself  in  many  forms.    Some- 


282     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

times  it  affected  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 
Among  the  Corinthians,  for  instance,  spite  of  all  their 
sensuality,  and  perhaps  to  some  degree  as  a  protest 
against  it,  there  was  a  section  which  regarded  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  as  inconsistent  with  the  spiritu- 
ality of  their  faith.  This  section  had  probably  been 
affected  by  Greek  thought,  which  regarded  the  body, 
the  material  part  of  man,  as  the  seat  and  source  of 
all  evil.  Their  "  evil  communications  "  with  these  Pagan 
minds  had  corrupted  their  "good  manners."^  It  is 
quite  possible  that  these  over-spiritualists  were  like 
Hymenaeus  and  Philetus,  against  whom  Timothy  was 
warned  by  Paul  as  holding  that  "the  resurrection  is 
past  already,"  ^  meaning  that  the  true  resurrection  is 
only  spiritual  and  is  completed  in  man's  resurrection 
from  sin.  Paul  rightly  withstood  this  method  of 
spiritualising  the  faith,  as  a  method  which  ate  into 
the  truth  "  as  doth  a  gangrene."  ^  He  declared  that 
he  had  seen  the  Risen  Christ,  and  he  contended  for 
the  redemption  of  the  whole  man — even  of  the  body, 
believing  that  God  would  give  him  a  body  "  as  it  hath 
pleased  Him."* 

We  see  a  similar  tendency  among  the  Thessalonians. 
Among  them  it  took  the  form  of  an  exorbitant  regard 
for  a  single  doctrine,  which  blinded  them  to  the  prosaic 
claims  and  duties  of  common  life.  The  belief  in  the 
immediate  coming  of  Jesus  Christ  is  one  of  the  Church's 
most  cherished  hopes  and  expectations.  It  is  the 
spring  also  of  many  of  her  most  blessed  activities. 
But  there  is  an  extravagant  manner  of  holding  the 
doctrine — fixing  the  date,  and  crying,  "  Lo !  here,  and 

»  I  Cor.  XV.  33.  *  2  Tim.  ii.  18.  »  Ibid.  17,  R.V. 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  38. 


ON  OVER-SPIRITUALITY  283 

lo !  there,"  which  even  in  our  own  day  leads  many 
away  from  the  path  of  sobriety  and  industry,  and 
fosters  an  unlovely  type  of  spirituality  which  brings 
Christianity  into  disrepute.  Paul  had  to  regulate  this 
over-spirituality  by  calling  back  the  Thessalonians  to 
the  simplicity  of  the  quiet  life  of  faith  and  expectation 
and  toil,  by  exhorting  them  "  that  ye  study  to  be  quiet, 
and  to  do  your  own  business,  and  to  work  with  your 
own  hands  .  ,  .  that  ye  may  walk  honestly  toward  them 
that  are  without."  ^ 

It  is  never  safe  to  neglect  the  balance  of  truth. 
Each  truth  must  be  held  in  relation  to  the  body  of 
truth,  lest  it  should  become  a  light  that  leads  to  error. 
We  may  believe  in  the  justice  of  God  so  exclusively 
as  to  conceive  of  God  as  a  tyrant  rather  than  as  a 
father ;  or  in  His  love,  so  as  to  rob  us  of  our  faith 
in  Him  as  the  moral  governor  of  the  world,  whose 
righteousness  is  the  ground  and  guarantee  of  all  justice 
and  equity.  Christ's  divinity  may  be  so  over-spiritualised 
as  to  take  Him  out  of  contact  with,  and  out  of  reach 
of,  our  humanity,  just  as  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  so 
etherealised  as  an  influence  as  to  dethrone  Him  from 
His  place  as  a  Person  in  the  blessed  Trinity.  Each 
truth  must  be  apprehended  in  its  relations,  as  part 
of  a  whole. 

But  there  is  a  much  more  unlovely  form  of  over- 
spirituality— that  which  holds  by  the  great  doctrinal 
symbols  with  an  ostentatious  display  of  orthodoxy, 
with  much  loudness  of  profession  and  punctilious 
correctness  of  technical  language.  Paul  was  not  blind 
to  this  hard  and  wooden  orthodoxy,  which  prides 
itself  on  correctness  of  creed  and  falls  into  the  baneful 
'  I  Thess.  iv.  11,  12. 


284     CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

error  of  a  life  which  is  one  long  heresy  against  the 
chanty  and  peace  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  may  speak 
the  language  of  saints  and  live  the  life  of  sinners. 
We  may  make  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
shibboleths  for  testing  our  neighbour's  faith,  whilst 
they  scarcely  hide  the  meagre  anatomy  of  our  own. 
Paul  himself  no  doubt  insisted  on  the  value  of  holding 
fast  "  the  form  of  sound  words."  But  when  he  exhorted 
Timothy  to  this  duty  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  danger 
of  holding  fast  the  form  and  letting  go  the  spirit. 
We  require  to  quote  the  whole  exhortation  in  order 
to  preserve  the  balance  of  truth  and  avoid  the  error : 
"  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,  which  thou  hast 
heard  of  me,  in  faith  and  love  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus."  1 

It  was  never  intended  that  the  Christian  should  live 
in  a  world  of  metaphysical  abstractions  which  rarified 
his  religion  till  it  became  useless  for  common  life.  It 
is  always  easier  to  protest  our  orthodoxy  than  to 
live  like  a  Christian.  It  is,  however,  a  striking  fact 
that  the  judgments  of  Jesus  are  not  based  upon 
theological  correctness,  but  upon  social  conduct.  The 
"  idle  word,"  ^  which  does  no  work  of  helpfulness,  has 
to  be  accounted  for.  They  who  show  no  charity  to 
the  poor,  the  naked,  the  prisoner,  the  sick,  do  no 
service  to  Christ  and  are  unfit  to  be  in  His  presence. 
They  who  have  prophesied  in  His  name,  and  in  His 
name  have  cast  out  devils,  and  yet  have  broken  the 
law  of  neighbourliness,  are  compelled  to  depart.  Dives 
is  punished  because  he  ignored  the  social  contrast  as 
presented  to  him  in  Lazarus.  Zacchaeus,  the  religious 
outcast,  is  counted  a  son  of  Abraham  because  he 
'  2  Tim.  i.  13.  *  Matt.  xii.  36. 


ON   OVER-SPIRITUALITY  285 

cultivated  the  common   grace   of  charity   towards  the 
poor  and  made  honourable  restitution  for  his  faults. 

Paul  falls  into  line  with  the  teaching  of  Jesus  :  for, 
although  he  works  out  the  doctrinal  issues  of  the 
facts  of  Christ's  life  and  death  and  resurrection  and 
glory,  he  never  fails  to  use  these  great  doctrines  for 
furthering  his  ethical  teaching,  and  to  correlate  them 
with  the  culture  of  the  Christian  life  of  charity  and 
holiness.  "  Let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of 
Christ  depart  from  iniquity."  ^  "  And  though  I  have 
the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries, 
and  all  knowledge ;  and  though  I  have  all  faith,  so 
that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity, 
I  am  nothing."  ^ 

This  over-spirituality,  however,  manifested  itself  in 
Paul's  day  in  worship  as  well  as  in  doctrine.  There 
grew  up  sometimes  an  unhealthy  desire  for  the  extra- 
ordinary, the  eccentric,  the  exclusive.  The  converts 
thus  singled  themselves  out  from  the  common  herd 
of  unobtrusive  Christians.  In  the  Colossian  Church 
there  was  the  tendency  to  fall  away  from  Christ  by 
worshipping  angels,  and  by  brooding  over  visions 
which  had  appeared  in  moments  of  ecstasy — the 
prototype  of  our  modern  spiritualism.^  It  sometimes 
took  the  form  of  a  morbid  love  of  the  mysterious,  which, 
as  a  "  form  of  godliness,"  led  captive  especially  the 
women  of  the  Church,  corrupting  their  minds  by 
feeding  them  on  a  knowledge  of  things  which  never 
satisfied — "  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  ^ 

In  Corinth,  on  the  other  hand,  the  gift  of  tongues  was 
greatly  coveted.     It   is  evident  that  the  tongues  were 
1  2  Tim.  ii.  19.    »  1  Cor.  xiii.  2.     *  Col.  ii.  18.    *  2  Tim.  iii.  5-8. 


286    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

not  the  same  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  as  those  of 
Pentecost.  At  Pentecost  the  tongues  were  intelligible 
to  others :  in  Corinth  they  were  not.^  The  Corinthians 
revelled  in  this  new  excitement  and  almost  identified 
it  with  the  spiritual  life. 

Paul  made  the  needed  correction.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  object  of  worship  was  not  self-pleasing  or  self- 
glorying,  but  the  edification  of  the  Church :  "  Seek 
that  ye  may  excel  to  the  edifying  of  the  Church."^ 
These  tongues  were  given  "  for  a  sign  not  to  them  that 
believe,  but  to  them  that  believe  not."  ^  They  are, 
therefore,  not  intended  for  social  worship,  and  should 
not  be  indulged  in,  as  they  encourage  display  and  self- 
glorying.  But  he  goes  deeper,  and  asserts  the  pre- 
eminence of  charity  as  the  flower  and  fruit  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  deeper  still  when  he  declares  that  all  these 
extraordinary  spiritual  gifts  are  valueless  if  this  homely 
quality  of  charity  is  awanting. 

To  Paul  the  greatest  miracle  of  the  Spirit  is  the 
redemption  of  the  sinner  from  a  life  of  selfishness  to 
a  life  of  love.  His  contention  is  that  the  chief  function 
of  the  Spirit  is  not  the  bestowal  of  miraculous  powers, 
such  as  tongues,  but  the  quiet  inspiration  and  guidance 
which  are  afforded  to  the  ethical  and  practical  life  of 
man.  In  his  enumeration  of  the  qualities  which  con- 
stitute the  "  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  love  takes  the  first  place,* 
and  in  that  exquisite  hymn  in  which  he  sings  the  praise 
of  charity  ^  all  other  gifts  and  acquirements  and  graces 
pale  before  its  brightness  as  stars  before  the  sun.  To 
Paul's  mind  spirituality  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the 
ecstasy  of  our  speech,  by  the  extent  of  our  knowledge, 

»  I  Cor.  xiv.  2.  *  Ibid.  1 2.  *  Ibid.  22. 

*  Gal.  V.  22.  *  I  Cor.  xiii. 


ON   OVER-SPIRITUALITY  287 

by  the  munificence  of  our  benevolence,  or  by  the  heroism 
of  our  self-sacrifice/  not  by  the  occasional,  the  extra- 
ordinary, the  ecstatic,  but  by  that  habit  of  the  character 
which  becomes  the  Christian's  second  nature — charity. 

Such  tendencies  as  these  encourage  an  unwholesome 
conception  of  the  Christian  life  and  breed  qualities 
which  are  not  indigenous  to  the  Christian  character. 
Our  religion  is  apt  to  be  dissociated  from  ordinary  life, 
to  become  a  mere  cult  suitable  for  the  few,  and  to  lose 
that  universal  note  which  differentiates  it  from  all  other 
religions.  Whenever  we  regard  spirituality  as  a  type 
of  life  which  needs  an  environment  exclusively  for 
itself,  the  common  life  in  the  ordinary  environment 
becomes  profane.  The  life  of  the  ascetic  and  the 
monk  may  be  justified  as  a  temporary  protest  against 
luxury  and  sensuality,  but  the  Christian  saint  finds 
the  material  for  actualising  his  holiness,  not  in  special 
regimen  of  conduct  and  ritual  of  worship,  but  in  the 
common  duties  and  courtesies  and  charities  of  everyday 
life.  Spirituality  does  not  consist  in  aloofness  from 
the  world,  but  in  actual  contact  with  it,  together 
with  a  certain  spiritual  elevation  of  character.  The 
Christian  weaves  his  web  of  life  like  other  men,  with 
the  common  weft  and  in  the  common  warp  of  everyday 
affairs — but  with  a  divine  pattern.  His  spirituality  is 
not  in  what  he  does,  but  in  how  he  does  it — not  in  the 
material  he  uses,  but  in  the  design  he  works  out.  In 
other  words,  religion  is  life,  not  a  part  of  life.  "  Whether 
therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God."  ^ 

When  we  cultivate  a  formal  or  official  spirituality 
of  character  we  end  in  a  refined  hypocrisy.  We  must 
^  i  Cor.  xiii.  1-3.  •  Ibid.  x.  31. 


288     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

not  clothe  the  child  in  the  garments  of  a  man  on  the 
plea  that  he  will  grow  up  to  fit  them.  We  must  make 
the  clothes  fit  the  child  for  present  wear.  An  over- 
strained religion,  a  spirituality  that  is  over-spirituality, 
is  both  a  hypocrisy  and  a  self-deception.  A  man  may 
think  of  himself  more  highly  than  he  ought  to  think, 
but  the  world  also  thinks,  and  perceives  the  real  face 
behind  the  mask.  "  If  a  man  think  himself  to  be  some- 
thing, when  he  is  nothing,  he  dcceiveth  himself."  ^ 

It  is  worthy  of  our  attention  that  these  over- 
spiritualists  of  Paul's  day  were  characterised  by  a  pride 
and  censoriousness  such  as  we  might  expect.  It  was 
to  the  "  spiritual "  among  the  Galatians  that  Paul 
addressed  these  words  :  "  If  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  let  us 
also  walk  in  the  Spirit.  Let  us  not  be  desirous  of  vain 
glory,  provoking  one  another,  envying  one  another. 
Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are 
spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  ; 
considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted."  ^ 

The  advice  is  a  rebuke,  for  true  spirituality  is  never 
censorious.  When  spirituality  prides  itself  on  its 
privileges  or  endowments,  upon  its  intellectual  or 
rhetorical  accomplishments,  upon  its  ecclesiastical 
or  social  credit,  it  ceases  to  be  the  spirituality  which 
comes  from  Christ.  Its  origin  must  be  sought  in 
some  other  spirit  than  that  which  proceeds  from 
the  Father  and  is  the  witness  and  advocate  of  the  Son. 

'  Gal.  vi.  3.  *  Ibid.  v.  25 — vi.  i. 


THE  PLACE  OF  THE  INTELLECT  IN  THE 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE 


S89  19 


'•  It  would  be  a  cold  world  in  which  no  sun  shone  until  the  inhabitants 
thereof  had  arrived  at  a  true  chemical  analysis  of  sunlight." — Hatch's 
Greek  Ideas  and  the  Christian  Church. 

"Well  might  the  ancients  say,  God  made  practical  divinity  necessary, 
the  devil  controversial." — Weslev 

"  Reason  has  exposed  many  superstitions  only  to  become  itself  the 
final  object  of  superstition.  Men  forget  that,  after  all,  '  reasoning  is 
only  re-co-ordinating  states  of  consciousness  already  co-ordinated  in  certain 
simpler  ways,'  and  that  which  is  unreasoned  is  not  always  irrational. 
Rationality  in  man  is  not  shut  up  in  one  air-tight  compartment.  '  There 
is  no  feeling  or  volition  which  does  not  contain  in  it  the  element  of 
knowledge.'  This  is  the  truth  which  Hegel  has  seized  when  he  speaks  of 
religion  as  reason  talking  naively." — Lux  Mundi. 


«9<» 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  INTELLECT  IN  THE 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

THE  Gospel  had  not  only  to  contend  against  a  type 
of  spirituality  which  detached  it  from  common 
life,  but  it  had  to  define  its  relation  to  the  intellectual 
demands  which  threatened  to  divert  it  from  its  proper 
purpose.  There  has  always  existed  a  tendency  to  re- 
gard the  Gospel  as  offering  a  solution  of  the  problems 
which  press  hard  upon  the  intellect,  rather  than  as 
providing  a  way  of  escape  from  the  conviction  and  the 
power  of  sin  which  weigh  heavily  upon  the  conscience. 

The  tendency  manifests  itself  in  many  ways  :  some- 
times by  rationalising  the  Gospel  till  its  supernatural 
basis  is  undermined  ;  sometimes  by  overloading  it  with 
metaphysical  subtleties  till  its  directness  and  simplicity 
are  lost ;  sometimes  by  aiming  at  a  systematic  scheme 
of  thought  which  satisfies  the  cravings  of  the  mind,  but 
starves  the  heart ;  sometimes  by  sacrificing  the  breadth 
and  simplicity  of  Christ's  teaching  to  the  limitations 
and  fixity  of  human  dogmas.  Whichever  form  it  may 
take,  the  danger  remains  of  turning  the  Church  of 
Christ  into  a  school  of  philosophy,  of  giving  more 
importance  to  the  play  of  man's  intellect  than  to 
the   revelation   of  Christ's  mind,   of  glorifying   correct 

291 


292     CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

thinking  above  holy  living,  of  crushing  simple  faith 
under  the  heel  of  intellectual  arrogance. 

It  cannot  be  reiterated  too  frequently  that  Christianity, 
in  its  essence,  is  a  revelation.  It  is  a  revelation  of  the 
heart  and  mind  and  will  of  God.  It  is  not  a  philosophy, 
though  men  may  philosophise  upon  what  is  revealed. 
It  is  not  a  theology,  though  men  may  formulate  and 
correlate  the  doctrines  implied  in  it.  The  Gospel  is  not 
man's  thoughts  about  God,  but  God's  good  news  of 
Himself  to  man. 

Christianity  is  revelation  set  forth  in  facts.  The 
ultimate  fact  of  revelation  is  the  fact  of  Christ,  He 
Himself  declares  the  mind,  heart,  and  will  of  God,  and 
makes  the  divine  appeal  to  the  mind,  heart,  and  will 
of  man.  His  incarnation,  life,  death,  resurrection,  and 
exaltation  are  facts.  These  facts  may  be  stated  as 
doctrines,  but  any  doctrinal  statement  of  them  which 
obscures  the  facts  or  weakens  the  force  of  them,  con- 
stitutes an  aberration  from  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

We  sometimes  forget  that  the  early  Christians  had 
no  theology  ;  at  least,  their  theology  was  not  fixed 
and  formulated.  Christ  to  them  was  the  revelation  of 
God's  grace,  which  opened  up  to  them  a  new  way  of 
life.  It  was  not  that  He  changed  their  opinions  merely  ; 
He  changed  their  manner  of  living.  It  was  not  that 
He  solved  their  intellectual  difficulties  regarding  the 
universe  ;  He  solved  their  moral  difficulties  regarding 
themselves.  And,  if  we  inquire  into  the  process  by 
which  they  verified  and  actualised  the  Gospel,  we  find 
that  it  was  less  by  the  efforts  of  the  intellect  than  by 
the  ventures  of  experience.  Christ,  as  the  incarnate 
love  of  God,  appealed  to  the  conscience  to  meet  His 
claim  of  love  and  obedience,  and  enabled  men  to  meet 


INTELLECT  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE     293 

it.  "  Follow  Me,"  was  His  appeal  ;  and  the  effort  of 
faith  to  meet  the  appeal  and  to  live  the  life  verified 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel. 

Whilst  it  is  true  that  the  mind  of  man  may,  and 
indeed  must,  ratiocinate  upon  the  facts  presented  to 
it,  and  cannot  do  other  than  construct  a  view  of  God 
and  the  world  based  upon  these  facts,  yet  this  is  only 
a  means  to  an  end,  and  at  the  best  secondary.  The 
mind  must  apprehend  the  Gospel  before  it  can  act 
upon  it  ;  but  the  Gospel  itself  is  not  merely  illumination, 
but  redemption  ;  and,  so  far  as  it  is  illumination,  it  is 
such  for  the  purposes  of  redemption.  A  system  of 
theology  is  not  the  requisite  of  every  Christian.  The 
Gospel  of  Christ  may  be  sufficiently  apprehended  by 
our  instincts  and  intuitions,  our  unconscious  reason,  to 
warrant  us  in  putting  it  to  the  test  of  experience 
by  living  it.  And  it  is  this  fact  which  secures  the 
Gospel  as  the  inheritance  of  the  unlettered  and  the 
unleisured,  who  form  the  vast  majority  of  those  who 
need  its  hopes  and  comforts  and  inspiration.  In  the 
Church's  infancy  "  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh  " 
were  called. 

At  first  sight  it  seems  strange  that  the  Apostle  Paul 
should  have  led  the  way  in  carrying  out  to  their  logical 
issues  the  cardinal  facts  of  the  Gospel.  But  it  was 
essential  to  the  peculiar  task  to  which  he  had  devoted 
himself — the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles. 
There  was  a  difference  in  the  characteristics  of  the 
Jewish  and  Gentile  mind.  The  former  was  ethical 
and  practical,  and  eager  for  righteousness  ;  the  latter 
was  metaphysical  and  logical,  and  eager  for  wisdom. 
Almost  everywhere  Paul  came  in  contact  with  the 
Greek  mind  which  played  upon    the   Gospel   with  its 


294    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

keen  dialectic.  He  was  forced  therefore  to  defend  the 
Gospel  philosophically  against  the  tendency  to  philo- 
sophic aberration. 

But  whilst  Paul  theologises  he  never  mistakes 
theology  for  religion.  He  adopts  this  mode  of  pre- 
senting the  Gospel  because  it  is  one  of  the  main  avenues 
of  access  to  the  Greek  type  of  mind.  Yet  to  him 
religion  does  not  consist  in  correct  opinion,  but  in  holy 
living  ;  not  in  an  illuminated  mind,  but  in  a  renewed 
heart.  He  is  willing  to  be  "  all  things  to  all  men  "  that 
he  may  win  some.  He  never  loses  sight  of  the  fact 
that  the  springs  of  the  Christian  life  are  not  found 
in  man's  thoughts  of  God,  but  in  God's  thoughts  of 
man  and  in  the  faith  which  apprehends  and  yields 
itself  to  them.  Hence  he  does  not  pretend  to  come 
before  his  hearers  as  a  sophist  "  with  wisdom  of  words," 
desirous  of  intellectual  conquest  won  by  trick  of  oratory, 
but  as  an  ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ,  resolved  to  win 
men  into  a  new  life  by  presenting  to  them  the  new 
way  which  God  has  revealed  in  Christ  and  Him 
crucified. 

Nor  was  Paul  unobservant  of  some  of  the  dangers 
of  the  speculative  type  of  mind.  One  of  the  dangers 
was  that  of  substituting  speculation  for  revelation.  All 
around  Paul  were  schools  of  thought  in  which  the 
disciples  were  more  anxious  to  press  the  Gospel  into 
their  theories  than  to  adjust  their  theories  to  revealed 
facts.  Even  within  the  Church  this  tendency  manifested 
itself  and  led  to  schismatic  results.  Christ  was  divided, 
each  school  presenting  a  partial  Christ  to  its  disciples.* 
This  partisanship  was  wisely  and  firmly  resented  by 
Paul,  as  causing  rivalry  and  confusion  among  the  many 
»  I  Cor.  i.  12,  13. 


INTELLECT  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE     295 

members  of  "  the  one  body,"  ^  and  as  making  the  cross 
of  Christ  "  of  none  effect "  by  "  wisdom  of  words."  ^ 
Why,  says  Paul,  what  is  the  result  of  all  speculation  ? 
"  In  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew 
not  God."  ^  The  only  remedy  was  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  and  Him  crucified ;  for  Christ  is  the  only 
"  wisdom  of  God "  which  leads  to  redemption,  as  it 
alone  is  conjoined  with  redemptive  power.* 

Paul  does  not  seek  to  curb  the  natural  desire  of  the 
intellect  to  solve  the  mysteries  by  which  it  is  surrounded. 
The  indestructible  impulse  of  thought  is  part  of  his  own 
endowment  of  nature  and  is  to  be  respected  ;  but  he 
knows  its  limits  and  perils  in  the  religious  life.  Not 
that  he  considers  himself  debarred  from  all  philosophy : 
indeed,  he  ranks  himself  among  the  thinkers  who 
seek  wisdom  :  "  Hovvbeit,"  he  says,  "  we  speak  wisdom 
among  the  perfect  [fullgrown] :  yet  a  wisdom  not  of 
this  age,  nor  of  the  rulers  of  this  age  [the  philo- 
sophers of  his  day],  which  are  coming  to  nought :  but 
we  speak  God's  wisdom  in  a  mystery."  ^  This  wisdom 
however,  is  something  to  which  he  has  attained  not 
by  intellectual  effort,  but  by  spiritual  illumination  : 
"  Now  we  have  received,  not  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
but  the  spirit  which  is  of  God,  that  we  might  know 
the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God."  ® 

Paul  is  justly  jealous  of  the  encroachments  of  the 
reason  in  the  religious  sphere  of  life,  lest  the  philoso- 
phising spirit  should  quench  the  Spirit  of  God  in  man. 
Christ  makes  His  appeal  to  the  whole  man — affection 
and  will,  instinct  and  intuition,  as  well  as  intellect — to 
bring  the  whole  man,  including  his  every  thought   into 

*  I  Cor.  y\\.  passim.  *  Ibid.  i.  17.  '  Ibid.  21. 

*  Ibid.  24.  *  Ibid.  ii.  6,  7,  R.V.  margin.  •  Ibid  12. 


296    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

His  redemption  and  service.  Hence  Paul  affirms  that 
he  does  not  use  "carnal  weapons"  in  his  warfare  with 
those  who  divert  the  allegiance  of  men  from  the  Gospel ; 
but,  that  nothing  should  come  between  the  soul  and 
God,  and  in  protest  against  the  enticements  and  interests 
of  a  purely  intellectual  life,  he  determines  to  wage  war 
with  weapons  which  are  "  mighty  before  God  to  the 
casting  down  of  strongholds  ;  casting  down  reasonings, 
and  every  high  thing  that  is  exalted  against  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  and  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  ^ 

But  there  was  also  the  danger  that  men  should  enter- 
tain the  assumption  that  the  Gospel  was  to  be  verified 
only  by  the  reason.  It  is  one  of  the  chronic  weaknesses 
of  faith  that  it  so  often  waits  upon  the  verdict  of 
philosophy.  Faith  has  to  find  its  verification  in  a  more 
direct  way — in  experience.  We  do  not  believe  that 
reason  as  such  is  opposed  to  Christianity ;  ^  yet  we 
must  not  look  to  it  for  the  confirmation  of  our  faith. 
Does  the  truth  of  Christ  appeal  to  you  ?  Then  live  it 
Life  will  prove  whether  it  is  the  power  of  God  for 
your  salvation.  "  Taste  and  see."  The  last  word  that 
reason  has  to  say  of  our  Christian  faith  is  something 
more  than  agnosticism.  As  has  been  said  by  Romanes, 
one  of  the  most  fearless  but  reverent  thinkers,  "  The 
unbiassed  answer  of  pure  agnosticism  ought  reasonably 
to  be,  in  the  words  of  John  Hunter,  '  Do  not  think  : 
try.'      That  is,  in  this   case,  try   the   only  experiment 

'  2  Cor.  X.  4,  5,  R.V.,  margin. 

*  "  In  every  generation  it  must  henceforth  become  more  and 
more  recognised  by  logical  thinking,  that  all  antecedent  objections 
to  Christianity  founded  on  reason  alone  are  ipso  facto  nugatory." — 
Romanes,  Thoughts  on  Religion,  i66. 


INTELLECT  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE     297 

available — the  experiment  of  faith.  Do  the  doctrine, 
and  if  Christianity  be  true,  the  verification  will  come, 
not  indeed  mediately,  through  any  course  of  speculative 
reason,  but  immediately  by  spiritual  intuition.  Only 
if  a  man  has  faith  enough  to  make  the  venture  honestly, 
will  he  be  in  a  just  position  for  deciding  the  issue.  .  .  , 
It  is  a  fact  that  Christian  belief  is  much  more  due  to 
doing  than  to  thinking,  as  prognosticated  by  the  New 
Testament.  '  If  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God.'  And 
surely,  on  grounds  of  reason  itself,  it  should  be  allowed 
that,  supposing  Christianity  to  be  of  God,  it  ought  to 
appeal  to  the  spiritual  rather  than  to  the  rational  side 
of  our  nature."^ 

When  pre-eminence  is  given  to  the  speculative 
tendency  there  is  the  danger  of  applying  to  the  Christian 
the  test  of  a  metaphysical  creed  rather  than  that  of 
a  living  faith  which  issues  in  a  Christlike  life.  But  to 
judge  a  Christian's  faith  by  the  creed  which  he  claims 
to  be  his,  is  like  judging  a  student's  knowledge  by  his 
library,  or  a  musician's  technique  by  his  piano,  or  the 
chemist's  skill  by  his  laboratory.  The  Christian's  faith 
is  not  to  be  judged  by  his  adherence  to  certain  meta- 
physical opinions  regarding  the  facts  of  revelation. 
His  opinions  are  his,  and,  at  the  best,  human  :  the  facts 
are  God's,  and  in  their  austere  simplicity  are  always 
divine.  These  facts  were  not  revealed  to  supply  data 
for  speculation,  but  to  give  inspiration  for  holy  living. 
Creeds  may  assist  us  in  the  interpretation  of  these 
facts :  they  may  help  us  to  see  the  rounded  whole  of 
the  various  parts  of  divine  truth  ;  but,  after  all,  they 
are  only  scaffolding,  and  the  question  remains  :  what 
*  Thoughts  on  Religion,  167,  168. 


298     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

sort  of  a  life  we  are  building  up  as  the  temple  of  God's 
spirit  ?  We  may  erect  an  imposing  scaffolding  and 
never  even  begin  to  build. 

We  have  been  slow  to  learn  that  redemption  is  the 
only  test  that  can  be  applied  to  the  Christian.  How 
far  has  this  work,  which  is  the  work  of  Christ,  progressed 
in  a  man's  life  ?  A  man  may  be  a  true  Christian 
without  having  any  well-defined  theories  of  the  revealed 
facts  of  the  Gospel ;  he  may  not  be  able  even  to  under- 
stand the  creed  of  his  fellows  ;  but  Christ  may  be  none 
the  less  to  him,  as  to  the  first  Christians,  "  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,"  If  it  were  not  so,  the  Church 
would  be  little  more  than  another  school  of  thought 
and  the  disciples  within  it  only  a  select  coterie  of 
aristocratic  intellects. 

As  the  end  of  revelation  is  the  new  life,  so  the 
presence  of  the  new  life  is  the  ultimate  test  of  the 
Christian.  Paul  speaks  about  adorning  "  the  doctrine 
of  God  our  Saviour."  ^  But  the  adorning  of  the  doctrine 
was  not  effected  by  merely  intellectual  adherence  to 
a  creed.  There  was  a  higher  test  applied — the  ethical 
issue.  *'  For  the  grace  of  God  hath  appeared,  bringing 
salvation  to  all  men,  instructing  us,  to  the  intent  that, 
denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live 
soberly  and  righteously  and  godly  in  this  present  world, 
looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  appearing  of  the 
glory  of  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  who 
gave  Himself  ft)r  us,  tJiat  He  might  redeem  us  from  all 
iniquity,  and  purify  unto  Himself  a  people  for  His 
own  possession,  zealous  of  good  works."  ^ 

It  was  in  the  same  strain  that  the  Apostle  counselled 
his  disciple  Titus  to   "  affirm  confidently,  to   the   end 
>  Titus  ii.  lo.  »  Ibid.   11-14,  R.V. 


INTELLECT  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE     299 

that  they  which  have  believed  God  may  be  careful  to 
maintain  good  works.  These  things  are  good  and  profit- 
able unto  men."  But  he  is  to  "  shun  foolish  questionings," 
"  for  they  are  unprofitable  and  vain."  ^  Everywhere 
throughout  the  New  Testament  the  legitimate  issue 
of  the  Gospel  is  the  new  ethical  dynamic  which  it 
supplies.  Where  this  is  absent,  all  our  speculations  and 
dogmas  and  intellectual  judgments  go  for  nothing. 

It  is,  however,  when  we  turn  to  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Colossians  that  we  have  the  chief  example  of  his 
treatment  of  this  aberration  of  intellectualism.  In  the 
Church  at  Colosse  intellectualism  had  appeared  in  the 
form  of  a  more  or  less  defined  Gnostic  tendency.  There 
was  apparently  a  section  of  the  Church  which  was 
oppressed  with  the  problem  of  reconciling  the  existence 
of  evil  with  the  creation  of  the  world  by  a  wise  and 
beneficent  God.  In  its  attempt  to  solve  this  old  diffi- 
culty it  resorted  to  a  series  of  speculations  which  tended 
to  cater  to  intellectual  vanity  and  to  eliminate  the 
facts  of  revelation  which  appealed  to  faith.  Paul  appre- 
hended the  danger  of  the  Church  being  spoiled  "  through 
philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of 
men." 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  he  deals  with  this 
typical  heresy.  He  does  not  ignore  the  difficulty  which 
presses  upon  the  mind.  He  meets  it  by  showing  that 
all  this  wisdom  of  which  the  Colossians  boast  as  a 
solution  of  their  difficulties  is  a  wisdom  of  words : ' 
the  true  wisdom  is  to  be  found  treasured  up  in  Christ, 
the  wisdom  of  God,^  the  supreme  fact  of  the  universe, 
who  hath  reconciled  "  all  things  to  Himself .  .  .  whether 
they   be  things  in  earth,  or  things  in  heaven."     Then 

«  Titus  iii.  8,  9,  R.V.  '  Col.  ii.  4,  18.  «  /did.  iii.  16,  etc. 


300    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

he  brings  them  down  to  the  essential  fact  of  their 
redemption  from  sin  by  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ, 
which  should  be  the  basis  of  their  faith  and  hope  as 
Christians,  and  was  of  more  importance  than  the 
solution  of  the  riddle  of  the  universe :  "  You  that 
were  sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind 
by  wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  He  reconciled  in  the 
body  of  His  flesh  through  death,  to  present  3'ou  holy 
and  unblameable  and  unreproveable  in  His  sight."  ^ 

Paul  subjects  this  intellectual  aberration  to  two  tests. 
First,  he  tries  it  by  its  ethical  issue.  What  has  it 
produced  ?  What  is  its  outcome  in  life  and  character  ? 
It  had  issued  in  a  mere  ritual  of  life,  which  forbade 
things  in  themselves  innocent,  and  enjoined  things  in 
themselves  indifferent,  and  placed  the  ethical  emphasis 
on  the  doing  of  things  instead  of  on  the  spirit  in 
which  they  are  done,  as  if  there  were  some  fixed 
regimen,  other  than  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  by  which 
holiness  could  be  attained.  This  ascetic  spirit  showed 
itself  in  matters  of  meat  and  drink,  and  feast  days 
and  new  moons  and  sabbaths,  in  worshipping  angels 
and  dwelling  on  visions,  and  in  subjection  to  ordinances 
of  self-denial.' 

But,  strange  to  say,  alongside  of  this  ascetic  punc- 
tiliousness in  the  observance  of  the  supposed  higher 
ethical  forms  there  was  a  great  laxity  in  the  matter 
of  obedience  to  the  elementary  duties  of  the  ethical 
spirit.  The  superior  thinkers  may  have  curbed  many 
of  their  lower  desires,  "  but  now,"  says  the  Apostle, 
"  put  ye  also  away  all  these  ;  anger,  wrath,  malice, 
railing,  shameful  speaking  out  of  your  mouth."  ^  The 
fact    was,    they    were    degenerating    into    an    ascetic 

•  Col.  i.  21,  22.  »  Ibid.  ii.  16-22,  '  Ibid.  iii.  8,  R.V. 


INTELLECT  IN  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE     301 

Pharisaism,  which  substituted  the  letter  of  the  ethical 
life  for  the  spirit.  This,  Paul  asserts,  shows  that  what 
they  need  is  to  understand  Christ  better.  If  they 
were  risen  with  Christ  they  would  set  their  affection 
on  things  above,  and  not  on  things  on  the  earth  ;  ^ 
they  would  think  more  of  their  liberties  and  less  of 
their  restrictions ;  and,  instead  of  crushing  this  and  that 
desire  piecemeal,  exhausting  their  energies  in  fighting 
against  sin,  they  would  die  right  off  to  all  sin,  and 
mortify  their  members  at  once,  in  the  very  act  of 
rising  into  the  new  life  in  Christ.^  Thus  their  in- 
tellectualism  failed  in  not  producing  a  wholesome 
ethic,  which  is  the  natural  outcome  of  a  simple  unem- 
cumbered  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

It  failed  in  another  way — when  tested  by  the  canon 
of  Christian  catholicity.  Then,  as  always,  a  rationalis- 
ing and  speculative  tendency  when  found  within  the 
Church  produced  an  intellectual  caste,  exclusive, 
arrogant,  pretentious,  and  somewhat  Pharisaic,  which 
claimed  wisdom  as  its  peculiar  prerogative  and  privilege, 
and  left  simple  faith  to  simple  folk,  who  were  content 
to  "mind  not  high  things."^  It  is  a  type  which  never 
dies  out,  though  now  it  takes  the  form  of  "a  show 
of  wisdom  in  will-worship,"  rather  than  in  "humility 
and  severity  to  the  body."^  They  are  high-class 
Christians,  into  whose  select  circle  none  can  enter 
except  those  who  have  been  initiated  into  their  peculiar 
intellectual  mysteries. 

Paul  properly  withstood  all  this  as  hostile  to  the 
universality  of  the  Gospel,  which  knows  nothing  of 
castes  and  schools  and  higher  and  lower  wisdom.  No 
barriers   of  mysticism  or   asceticism    or  intellectualism 

»  Col  iii.  1,  2.      » Ibid.  5.      ^  Rom.  xii.  16,      <  Col.  ii.  23,  R.V. 


302     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

are  to  be  raised  up  in  the  Church  in  which  all  things 
are  free  to  all.  Men  are  not  accepted  by  God  because 
of  these  human  distinctions,  nor  are  they  disqualified 
by  the  absence  of  them.  Whatever  men  may  do,  "  God 
would  make  known  what  is  the  riches  of  the  glory 
of  this  mystery  "  to  every  man,  "  warning  every  matty 
and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom  ;  that  we  may 
present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus  "  * ;  for  in 
the  "  new  man,"  who  is  the  highest  product  of  the 
Christian  faith,  all  distinctions  are  done  away  :  "  there 
is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircum- 
cision.  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free ;  but  Christ 
is  all,  and  in  all."  ^  "  The  aristocracy  of  intellec- 
tual discernment,  which  Gnosticism  upheld  in  religion, 
is  abhorrent  to  the  first  principles  of  the  Gospel."  ^ 

'  Col.  i.  27,  28.      *  Ibid.  iii.  11.     ^  Lightfoot's  Colossians,  p.  98. 


THE  LIMITS  AND  DANGERS  OF  THE  ASCETIC 
SPIRIT 


y>3 


"  It  is  in  these  respects,  then,  that  I  ask  you  to  show  me  your  progress. 
If  I  were  to  say  to  an  athlete,  Show  me  your  muscles,  and  he  were 
to  say.  See,  here  are  my  dumb-bells  !  What  I  want  to  see  is,  not  them, 
but  their  effect." — Epictetus. 

"The  power  of  the  Masters  is  shewn  by  their  self-annihilation." — 
RUSKIN. 

"It  is  true,  however,  that  the  farewell  to  happiness  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom  and  the  surest  means  of  finding  happiness.  There  is  nothing 
sweeter  than  the  return  of  joy  which  follows  the  renunciation  of  joy  ; 
nothing  more  vivid,  more  profound,  more  charming  than  the  enchantment 
of  the  disenchanted.' — Kenan's  Marcus  Aurelius. 

"No  court-marshal  or  provost-marshal's  cord  would  stop  thieving  in 
a  regiment,  or  make  a  coward  brave  ;  but  an  esprit  de  corps  and  honour 
have  done  it  again  and  again." — F,  W.  Robertson's  Life  and  iMUrt. 


904 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE  LIMITS  AND  DANGERS  OF  THE  ASCETIC 
SPIRIT 

ANOTHER  form  of  aberration  against  which  Paul 
was  obliged  to  contend  was  the  denial  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  natural  life.  The  ascetic  spirit  was 
not  a  creation  of  Christianity.  The  Christian  religion 
found  it  in  the  world  as  a  force  making,  somewhat 
blindly,  for  righteousness,  a  discipline  created  by  the 
higher  impulses  of  the  spirit,  a  cult  which  won  the 
allegiance  of  many  of  the  most  earnest  souls. 
Christianity  had  to  define  its  attitude  towards 
asceticism  as  a  way  of  holiness  by  which  many  were 
travelling  in  search  of  the  solution  of  the  oppressive 
riddle  of  the  moral  life — a  way  frequently  trodden 
by  bleeding  feet,  and  hallowed  by  the  sufferings  of 
martyrs. 

Asceticism  is  a  manner  of  life  which  necessarily 
issues  from  a  mode  of  thought.  The  old  antithesis 
between  the  one  and  the  many,  spirit  and  matter, 
God  and  the  world,  has  always  arrested  the  mind  as 
involving  a  moral  antithesis  between  good  and  evil, 
happiness  and  misery.  The  Oriental  and  Greek  minds 
could  not  reconcile  these  hostile  elements  ;  they  could 
find  no  higher  unity  which  embraced  both. 

Man  is  not  a  mere  spectator  of  this  universal  conflict. 

305  20 


306     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

He  is  involved  in  it  because  of  his  very  nature.  He 
himself  is  the  microcosm  of  the  universe.  He  is  spirit 
and  matter,  one  in  his  self-consciousness  and  many 
in  his  passions,  torn  asunder  by  willing  the  good  and 
doing  the  evil,  seeking  happiness  and  finding  misery. 
How  is  he  to  escape  from  this  dilemma?  How  is  he 
to  overcome  the  innate  dualism  of  his  nature  ? 

That  was  the  ethical  problem  which  presented  itself 
to  Buddhist  and  fakir  and  dervish ;  to  stoic  and 
cynic  and  Essene  and  Nazarite.  The  answer  came 
in  many  forms :  fight,  mortify,  deny,  ignore,  renounce, 
withdraw  ;  but  whatever  the  form  might  be,  it  was 
based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  material  world 
and  the  present  scheme  of  things  and  the  human 
body  were  in  themselves  necessarily  and  irrecoverably 
evil.  The  path  of  illumination  and  happiness  was  one 
which  led  out  of  the  world  and  away  from  the  flesh  : 
neither  the  world  nor  the  flesh  could  be  brought  into 
the  service  of  God  and  holiness,  as  both  were  totally 
depraved. 

The  data  of  this  problem  are  still  the  same,  and 
the  old  difficulty  remains.  And  although  Christianity 
offers  a  higher  solution,  as  we  shall  afterwards  see, 
it  is  remarkable  that  within  the  Church,  and  often 
with  its  sanction,  the  ascetic  spirit  has  frequently 
sought  expression  in  the  old  forms  of  seclusion,  self- 
torture,  and  mortification.  The  reason  of  this  is  not 
far  to  seek.  The  heroic  element  in  man  despises  the 
easy  way,  the  quiet  unhistrionic  life  of  spiritual  detach- 
ment, of  subtle  reconciliation  and  compromise.  It 
demands  the  visible  act,  the  costly  sacrifice,  the  pain, 
the  loss,  which  defy  the  world  and  the  flesh.  But, 
none  the  less,  the  problem  is  not  to  be  solved  in  that 


THE   ASCETIC   SPIRIT  307 

way.  It  is  only  shirked,  or  at  best  postponed,  for 
it  leaves  the  world  and  the  flesh  outside  of  God's  divine 
purpose  and  providence,  unreconciled  and  unreconcil- 
able  with  His  beneficence,  and  in  eternal  enmity  to 
His  sovereign  will. 

How  does  the  matter  stand  ?  Man  finds  himself, 
as  a  spiritual  being,  the  centre  of  three  concentric  circles, 
which  hem  him  in,  imprison  and  enslave  him,  flouting 
his  freedom,  and  preventing  his  absolute  devotion  to 
God  and  the  Good.  The  outermost  circle  is  the 
material  world  with  its  material  possessions.  The 
nearer  circle  is  the  body  with  its  passions  and  fleshly 
desires.  The  innermost  is  that  which  binds  his  will 
as  with  a  band  of  iron,  rendering  it  powerless  to  escape 
towards  God. 

What  is  a  man  to  do  when  he  finds  himself  the 
centre  of  these  three  circles  of  hostility,  which  seem 
to  be  gradually  closing  in  upon  him  and  crushing  his 
true  being?  Obviously  there  are  only  three  courses 
left  to  him. 

The  first  is  to  spend  his  strength  and  his  days  in 
resistance,  fighting  against  their  encroachments  and 
contesting  every  inch  of  the  ground.  This  is  the  old- 
fashioned  warfare  of  the  Oriental  fakir  and  of  some 
of  the  more  modern  saints. 

The  second  is  to  ignore  or  renounce.  We  may 
assume  the  non-existence  of  the  hostile  forces  :  deny 
that  they  have  any  power,  and  sit  at  peace  in  our  tent 
as  if  the  hostile  circles  had  vanished  away  under  our 
contempt.  Or,  which  comes  to  the  same  thing,  we  may 
turn  our  back  upon  them,  resolved  to  hold  no  parley 
with  the  enemy,  casting  back  the  challenge  as  from 
one  unworthy  of  blunting  our  steel. 


308     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

If  we  thus  ignore,  we  may  live  our  lives  in  two 
ways  diametrically  opposite.  We  may  sit  down  as 
if  we  were  outside  the  outermost  circle,  as  if  in  a  non- 
existent world  like  the  Buddhist  devotee,  given  over 
to  the  contemplation  of  the  one  absolute  being,  God, 
with  whom  the  spirit  seeks  rest  and  union  ;  or  we 
may  still  sit  at  the  centre  in  ease  and  pleasure,  as  if 
the  hostile  lines  were  blotted  out,  following  our  impulses, 
satisfying  our  natural  desires,  indifferent  to  the  issues 
of  a  battle  in  which  we  have  no  concern,  asserting 
our  independence  of  the  material  world  by  denying 
its  power  to  harm.  So  easily  may  the  principles  that 
breed  the  ascetic  give  birth  to  the  libertine. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  renunciation  may  see  the 
enemy  and  decline  to  give  battle.  We  may  leave 
the  enemy  in  possession  of  all  within  the  radii  of  the 
three  circles  except  the  centre,  man  himself  as  a  spirit, 
who  claims  and  conserves  his  rights  and  affinities  with 
God.  We  may  renounce  the  material  world  in  the 
vow  of  poverty,  and  thus  the  outer  circle  is  disposed 
of;  the  inner  world,  as  embracing  the  desires  and 
passions  of  the  flesh,  we  may  give  up  in  the  vow  of 
chastity ;  the  innermost  circle  of  the  will  we  may  set 
aside  by  the  vow  of  obedience.  Renunciation  thus 
makes  its  escape  not  by  fighting  through  the  lines 
of  the  enemy,  nor  yet  by  ignoring  them,  but  by  giving 
over  to  the  enemy  the  ground  he  claims  and  occupies, 
and  by  keeping  clear  only  the  straight  upward  access 
of  the  spirit  to  God.  It  is  the  solution  of  the  problem 
offered  by  the  monastic  life. 

There  is  yet  a  third  course  left  to  us.  We  may 
change  the  venue  of  the  contest.  The  dispute  is  not 
between    us   and    the   world,   or   between    us   and   the 


THE   ASCETIC  SPIRIT  309 

body,  or  between  us  and  our  will.  It  goes  far  deeper  : 
it  is  between  us  and  God.  The  seat  of  evil  is  in 
ourselves  :  the  enmity  is  in  our  minds,  not  in  material 
things.  Our  worldly  possessions,  our  bodies,  our  wills, 
take  colour  of  good  or  evil  from  the  inner  life  of  the 
spirit.  In  themselves  they  are  morally  indifferent. 
They  are  to  us  as  we  are  to  them.  They  master  us 
if  we  serve  them :  they  serve  us  if  we  serve  God. 
Hence  the  solution  does  not  lie  in  fighting,  or  ignoring, 
or  renouncing  the  world  and  the  flesh  and  the  will, 
but  in  dying  to  them  by  becoming  alive  to  God. 

With  the  new  life  in  Christ  comes  the  new  spirit 
which  can  only  use  the  material  world  to  the  glory  of  God. 
The  word  which  sums  up  the  asceticism  of  the  Christian 
is  not  "  fight,"  "  ignore,"  "  renounce,"  but  sanctify. 
All  things  are  brought  into  the  service  of  the  spirit ; 
they  are  consecrated  by  the  consecration  of  those  who 
walk  unseduced  in  the  midst  of  them.  The  dualism 
between  God  and  the  world  disappears  when  man  is 
reconciled  to  God  and  attains  the  unity  of  the  spirit. 
It  is  now  we  arrive  at  the  solution  of  Christ,  which 
is  also  that  of  Paul. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Christianity,  which  itself  is 
strongly  ascetic  in  spirit,  had  to  face  the  task  of  distin- 
guishing its  way  of  life  from  the  ascetic  practices  with 
which  the  Pagan  mind  was  familiar.  It  is  apparent  that 
it  frequently  assimilated  these  and  made  them  its  own 
with  too  great  ease,  forgetful  of  the  higher  way  that 
was  trodden  by  the  blessed  feet  of  the  Master,  and 
fenced  in  by  the  Apostle,  who  in  the  first  days  of  the 
Church  perceived  the  tendency  to  aberration.  For, 
though  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  is  ascetic,  it 
can  never  be  adequately  expressed  in  the  ascetic  forms 


310    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

of  Paganism.  It  has  a  form  of  its  own,  more  subtle, 
more  difficult,  because  more  spiritual. 

It  is  in  Jesus  Christ  that  we  see  the  assertion  of  a 
purer  ascetic  ideal.  It  is  presented  to  us  in  Him  as 
a  life  of  beauty,  simplicity,  and  naturalness.  There  is 
no  histrionic  protestation,  no  self-immolation,  no  de- 
nunciation of  a  wicked  world,  no  torture  of  an  evil 
body.  To  Him  the  world  is  God's  world,  full  of  beauty 
and  instinct  with  worthy  joys  and  utilities.  He  sees 
in  the  processes  of  nature  and  in  the  creatures  around 
Him  symbols  and  parables  of  the  divinest  things.  His 
body  suffers  no  self-inflicted  flagellations.  He  does  not 
withdraw  from  the  society  of  men.  He  eats  and  drinks 
with  publicans  and  sinners.  He  visits  freely  the  homes 
of  His  friends,  and  enjoys  the  comforts  of  simple 
hospitality.  Nothing  is  profane  around  Him,  because 
nothing  is  profane  within.  The  world  and  human  life 
are  sanctified  by  His  presence. 

Yet  His  life  was  essentially  an  ascetic  life — a  life  of 
self-denial,  self-sacrifice,  and  pain,  as  the  higher  life 
must  always  be  in  a  world  where  there  is  so  much 
misery,  suffering,  and  sin.  But  there  is  this  distinction 
between  the  asceticism  of  Jesus  and  that  of  others  ; 
His  was  not  a  mere  self-mortification  for  the  attain- 
ment of  personal  sanctity.  He  preserved  Plis  sanctity 
by  other  means — by  His  oneness  with  the  Father. 
The  impulse  of  His  asceticism  sprang  from  His  love 
of  others  and  had  its  motive  in  the  salvation  of 
humanity.  His  pains  and  agonies.  His  Gethsemane 
and  Calvary  were  not  moments  in  His  own  seeking 
after  union  with  God,  but  self-chosen  means  of  re- 
deeming the  world  ;  for  it  stands  eternally  true  that 
we  can  only  relieve  pain  by  pain,  and  ease  the  miseries 


THE   ASCETIC   SPIRIT  311 

of  others  by  becoming  miserable,  and  take  away  sin 
by  sacrifice  and  cross-bearing. 

In  all  this  Jesus  has  left  us  the  rule  of  the  true 
ascetic.  It  is  not  separation  or  withdrawal  from  the 
world  that  is  demanded,  but  elevation.  When  Perseus 
fought  the  dragon  which  threatened  to  destroy 
Andromeda,  he  fought  from  above,  poised  on  wings 
in  the  air.  So  we  fight  our  evil  passions  and  rescue 
the  soul  by  fighting  from  the  spiritual  elevation  of  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  not  weary  vigils  or  bleeding 
flagellations  which  conquer  lust,  but  the  indwelling  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  body,  as  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord, 
We  do  not  attain  to  sanctity  by  long  battle,  by 
sacrificial  processes,  by  a  life  of  agonies,  by  piece-meal 
mortifications.  We  die  at  once  to  the  world  in  the 
very  act  of  becoming  alive  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 
The  victory  over  the  world  is  not  won  by  our  doing, 
or  renouncing,  or  resisting  ;  but  "  This  is  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith."  ^  So  the 
asceticism  of  the  Christian  life  is  not  the  means  but 
the  result  of  our  holiness,  and  has  as  its  object  the 
bearing  of  the  world's  burden  and  the  bringing  of  the 
world  back  to  God. 

Whilst  there  was  much  to  be  admired  in  the  ascetic 
types  of  life  which  were  resorted  to  as  a  means  of 
self-culture  in  holiness,  they  could  seldom  be  justified 
from  the  point  of  view  of  thought  or  from  their  practical 
results.  They  were  too  frequently  based  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  material  world,  including  the 
human  body,  is  essentially  evil,  and  therefore  irrecon- 
cilable and  intractable  in  God's  universal  scheme  and 
purpose.  This  could  never  satisfy  the  mind,  which 
'  I  John  V.  4. 


312     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

instinctively  demands  a  view  of  the  world  in  which 
God  is  supreme  and  absolute.  It  was  an  assumption 
which  changed  the  locus  of  sin  from  the  centre  in  the 
spirit  of  man  to  the  circumference  in  the  body  or 
in  the  material  world.  It  produced  only  a  stunted 
type  of  manhood  in  Pagan  and  Christian  alike,  not 
without  much  moral  grandeur,  but  without  that  rounded 
fulness  and  completeness  which  Christ  has  taught  us  to 
demand. 

Again,  it  tended  more  and  more  to  be  regarded  as 
a  moral  ritual  engaged  in  as  a  service  of  God.^  Whilst 
we  can  conceive  of  self-immolation  and  self-seclusion 
as  being  pleasing  for  their  own  sakes  to  the  gods  of 
heathen  conception,  we  cannot  conceive  that  they  give 
pleasure  to  our  God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  made  the  great  sacrifice  for  us  and  for 
the  world.  We  "  enter  into  the  holiest,"  not  by  our 
blood  and  pain,  but  "  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which 
He  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil,  that  is 
to  say.  His  flesh."  ^  We  do  not  serve  God  by  denials 
and  protests  and  abnegations  and  renunciations :  these 
are  negations  ;  we  serve  Him  in  the  Spirit,  rejoicing 
in  the  Spirit,  living  in  the  Spirit,  and  walking  in  the 
Spirit. 

Nor  can  we  ignore  the  fact  that  all  ascetic  culture 
engaged  in  for  its  own  sake  as  a  method  of  holiness 
almost  inevitably  dims  the  glory  of  the  cross  and 
depreciates  the  merit  of  Christ.  If  life  is  turned  into 
a  daily  crucifixion  we  may  think  more  of  our  cross 
than   of  His,  and   may  come  to  think  of  ourselves  as 

*  "  Will-worship,"  which  is  "  volunteered,  self-imposed,  officious, 
supererogatory  set  vice." — Lightfoot's  Colossians,  ii.  23. 

*  Heb.  X.  19,  20. 


THE   ASCETIC   SPIRIT  313 

adding  to  or  sharing  in  the  merit  which  brings  salva- 
tion. Our  thorns  may  compete  with  His,  and  our 
self-inflicted  wounds  may  claim  reward. 

It  is  so  easy  to  forget  that  we  die  to  self  and  the 
world  with  a  blow ;  not  by  inches,  but  the  whole  body 
at  a  stroke ;  not  through  years,  but  in  a  moment. 
And  the  death-blow  comes  with  the  access  of  the 
new  life  through  faith  in  Christ.  When  we  see  our 
great  sacrifice  in  the  Crucified,  the  world  is  crucified 
to  us  and  we  unto  the  world,  and  we  know  that  we  are 
"  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  ^  There  is  a  glorying  in  our 
own  cross  which  may  impair  our  glorying  in  the  cross 
of  Christ.  The  pursuit  of  self-abnegation  may  end 
in  self-esteem  and  self-righteousness. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  aberrations  to  which  the 
ascetic  spirit  is  liable,  asceticism  has,  however,  a  "  soul 
of  good,"  and  it  is  this  which  the  Christian  takes  over 
as  his  own.  But  he  does  not  regard  the  world  as  evil 
in  itself  It  is  evil  to  the  evil  and  good  to  the  good. 
So  also  with  the  body :  it  may  be  "  dead  because  of 
sin  "  ^ ;  but  sin  is  only  a  usurper  and  intruder  intrenched 
in  the  flesh :  "  know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  "  '  The  body  is  "  for  the 
Lord ;  and  the  Lord  for  the  body "  * ;  and  so  "  the 
redemption  of  the  body  "  is  included  in  the  scope  of 
Christ's  purpose  of  salvation. 

It  is  with  this  view  of  the  moral  indifference  of  the 
world  and  the  body  that  Paul  denies  the  validity  of 
the  ascetic  cult  of  mere  self-seclusion  and  self-mutilation 
as  a  healthy  moral  discipline.  The  world  and  the  body 
are  recovered  to  us  by  Christ,  and  sanctified  to  us,  who 

*  Rom.  vi.  II.      '  Ibid.  viii.  10.      '  i  Cor.  vi.  19.       *  Ibid.  13, 


314     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

have  ourselves  been  sanctified  to  Him.  "  All  things 
are  yours,"  says  the  Apostle,  when  ye  are  Christ's. 
"  Every  creature  of  God  is  good,  and  nothing  is  to  be 
rejected,  if  it  be  received  with  thanksgiving :  for  it 
is  sanctified  through  the  word  of  God  and  prayer.^ "  In 
Paul's  view,  man  has  been  rehabilitated  in  the  use  and 
enjoyment  of  the  world  by  the  fact  of  his  own 
reconciliation  to  God. 

In  the  same  way  the  old  conflict  with  the  flesh  takes 
a  new  turn.  We  do  not  conquer  the  body  and  make 
it  serve  us  by  thinking  about  and  fighting  against  it, 
but  by  rising  above  it  in  our  thoughts  and  aims.  Being 
quickened  ^  and  risen  with  Christ,  we  are  to  "  seek " 
and  to  set  our  "  mind  on  the  things  that  are  above." ' 
To  think  so  much  about  our  abstinences  and  restrictions 
is  unworthy  of  us  as  citizens  of  eternity,  who  have  died 
to  these  things,  and  whose  "  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God."  These  are  all  passing  things — things  which 
"  perish  with  the  using "  ^ ;  whereas  Christ  is  our  life,® 
and  our  thoughts  should  also  be  with  Him.  Why? 
When  we  rise  with  Christ  out  of  the  grave  of  our  sins 
we  die  with  Him  to  all  these  "  rudiments  of  the  world  "  ; 
we  come  under  the  power  of  a  great  living  principle — 
the  Spirit  of  Christ — and  our  subjection  to  ordinances,® 
our  ascetic  restrictions  and  severities,  are  a  falling  back 
from  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ  upon  the  "  command- 
ments of  men,"  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  "  are  not  of 
any  value  against  the  indulgence  of  the  flesh."  ^ 
Asceticism  as  a  means  of  attaining  holiness  is  both 
superfluous  and  futile.     We  are  not  sanctified  by  self- 

»  I  Tim.  iv.  4,  5,  R.V.    »  Col.  ii.  13.    «  Ibid.  iii.  I,  2,  R.V. 
*  Ibid.  ii.  22.  '  Ibid.  iii.  4.   "  Ibid.  ii.  20,  22. 

» Ibid.  23,  R.V. :  cf.  I.  Tim.  iv.  8. 


THE   ASCETIC   SPIRIT  315 

discipline,  but  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  being 
thus  sanctified,  all  things  are  sanctified  for  our  use 
and  enjoyment.  As  Augustine  has  said,  "  If  only  you 
love  God  enough,  you  may  safely  follow  all  your 
inclinations." 

Yet  we  find  the  ascetic  element  present  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  and  of  Paul ;  it  is  not,  however,  as 
a  rule  which  applies  to  the  whole  of  life,  but  as  an 
occasional  advice  to  meet  some  spiritual  emergency. 
Take  two  instances  in  Christ's  ministry. 

On  one  occasion  Christ  advocated  an  extreme 
measure  of  self-repression.  "  If  thy  hand  offend  thee, 
cut  it  off"i;  "If  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off "2; 
"  If  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out."  ^  Two  things 
may  be  remarked  concerning  this.  First,  it  is  not  a 
counsel  given  with  a  view  to  self-discipline.  It  has 
a  social  reference  and  is  uttered  with  a  view  to  preserve 
the  health  and  amenity  of  the  infancy  of  another's  faith. 
The  hand  or  the  foot  or  the  eye  has  offended  thee, 
because  it  has  offended  "one  of  these  little  ones  that 
believe  in  Me."^  The  ascetic  act  has  its  sanction  in 
the  principle  that  no  man  liveth  unto  himself.  And 
the  second  is,  that  Jesus  only  commends  it  as  better: 
it  is  better  to  sacrifice  the  member  than  lose  the  whole 
body.  But  it  is  implied  that  there  is' a  higher  alterna- 
tive— a  better  still,  a  best,  which  is  to  "  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  "  with  full  use  of  both  hands,  both  feet, 
both  eyes.  For  Jesus  did  not  come  to  curtail  and 
repress  life,  but  to  enlarge  and  enrich  it :  "I  am  come 
that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have 
it  more  abundantly."^ 

•  Mark  ix.  43.  •  Ibid.  45.  »  Ibid  ^7, 

*  Ibid.  42.  »  John  x.  lo. 


3i6    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

The  other  instance  is  that  of  the  rich  young  ruler, 
and  deals  with  the  Christian's  relations  to  material 
possessions.  In  this  case  it  may  be  noted,  first,  that 
Christ  invited  him  to  take  a  far  wider  outlook.  The 
young  man  imagined  that  he  fulfilled  all  his  duty  to 
man  when  he  kept  to  the  letter  of  the  second  Table. 
Jesus  teaches  him  that  the  eternal  life  which  he  desires 
is  not  to  be  got  by  the  solitary  quest  of  holiness  which 
ignores  the  misery  and  poverty  and  pain  of  the  world  : 
it  is  to  be  attained  by  the  path  of  social  duty — by 
restoring  the  conditions  of  a  fuller  life  to  those  who 
are  hindered  by  less  fortunate  social  and  material 
circumstances.  The  "  good  thing  "  ^  for  him  to  do  in 
this  spiritual  emergency  is  to  part  with  his  goods  for 
a  greater  good,  and  to  realise  the  wider  conception 
of  the  holy  life  by  alleviating  the  distress  of  the  poor.' 

But  this  also  is  to  be  noted.  The  ascetic  renunciation 
of  the  great  possessions  is  only  an  incident.  It  might 
or  might  not  be  necessary.  The  necessity  is  to  follow 
Christ  at  all  costs.  Renunciation  may  not  be  the  best 
thing  in  itself,  but  it  is  the  best  for  the  young  ruler. 
Better  than  this  best  it  might  have  been  to  retain 
his  possessions  and  use  them  in  sanctified  steward- 
ship when  following  Christ ;  but  best  for  him,  in  his 
circumstances,  to  part  with  them  so  as  to  be  free  to 
follow.  When  we  cannot  spiritually  detach  ourselves 
from  material  riches  so  as  to  have  as  if  we  had  not, 
we  must  forfeit  the  less  worthy  for  that  which  is  more 
worthy  of  our  divine  nature — goods  for  the  good. 

The  ascetic  spirit  is  also  found,  as  we  might  anticipate, 
in  the  life  of  Paul ;  but  here  also  it  has  its  distinctive 
note — a  note  not  in  discord  with  the  teaching  of  Jesus, 
'  Matt.  xix.  i6.  •  Ibid  21. 


THE  ASCETIC   SPIRIT  317 

Sometimes  his  words  imply  a  regimen  of  self-torture 
which  reminds  us  of  the  mortifications  of  the  saints. 
"  I  buffet  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  bondage  :  lest  by 
any  means,  after  that  I  have  preached  to  others,  I 
myself  should  be  rejected."  ^  But  this  is  not  his  last 
or  highest  word  on  the  subject.  It  is  only  an  under- 
tone. We  have  not  heard  the  music  when  the  bass 
notes  are  played  without  the  other  parts.  He  buffets 
the  body  to  bring  it  into  condition  ;  but  the  buffeting 
is  only  an  incident  with  a  view  to  its  submission  and 
service,  after  which  all  its  faculties  and  capacities  work 
harmoniously  together  to  the  great  end  for  which  they 
were  created.  "  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you  ? "  ^  Our 
bodies  are  not  ours  to  use  them  for  our  selfish  inclina- 
tions and  desires ;  our  bodies  are  part  of  the  redemp- 
tion, and  we  must  not  let  them  fall  back  into  the 
old  service  of  sin.  "  Ye  are  not  your  own  :  for  ye  were 
bought  with  a  price." '  "  Know  ye  not  that  your 
bodies  are  the  members  of  Christ  ? "  *  We  hold  them 
as  a  trust  to  be  administered  for  Christ,  and  the 
trustees  must  see  to  it  that  they  are  not  diverted  to 
false  uses. 

It  is  for  that  reason  that  the  Apostle  asked,  with 
indignation  and  surprise  :  "  Shall  I  then  take  the 
members  of  Christ,  and  make  them  the  members  of  an 
harlot  ?  "  ®  The  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  that  temple  must  be  cleansed  even  though  it  be 
with  the  "  scourge  of  small  cords."  "  Let  us  cleanse 
ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh."  ®  But  it  is  also 
to   be   sanctified,  that  all  its  energies  may  be  used  in 

»  I  Cor.  ix.  27,  R.V.  '  Ibid.  vi.  19,  R.V.   » Ibid.  19,  20,  R.V. 
«  Ibid.  15.  »  Ibid.  •  2  Cor.  vii.  i,  R.V. 


3i8     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

their  highest  power  to  "  glorify  God."  ^  And  this  end 
is  not  effected  by  our  self-repression,  but  by  the  Spirit's 
indwelling.  "  Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil 
the  lust  of  the  flesh."  ^  This  complete  surrender  of  the 
body  in  all  the  fulness  and  freedom  of  its  powers,  un- 
mutilated  and  unrestrained,  is  a  debt  which  we  owe  to 
Him  who  has  redeemed  us  by  Himself  and  for  Himself: 
"  We  are  debtors,  not  to  the  flesh,  to  live  after  the  flesh. 
For  if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die :  but  if  ye 
through  the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye 
shall  live."  3 

The  contention  of  Paul  may  therefore  be  summed 
up  thus  :  Holiness  is  not  attained  by  self-severity,  nor  is 
self-severity  holiness.  Holiness  is  won  for  us  and  given 
to  us  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  has  redeemed  even  the  body, 
and  all  ascetic  practice  for  that  end  is  superfluous. 
The  passions  of  the  body  are  conquered,  not  by  fighting 
against  them  in  our  own  strength — body  against  body — 
but  by  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit.  We  make  the 
doings  of  the  body  die  through  the  Spirit,^  as  the  earth 
is  released  from  the  bands  of  the  winter's  frost  by  the 
genial  breath  of  the  spring.  Paul's  highest  word  re- 
garding the  body  is  not  "  buffet "  or  "  repress,"  but 
sanctify,  that  the  healthy  body  may  be  the  servant  and 
shrine  of  the  Spirit. 

'  I  Cor.  vi.  20.      *  Gal.  v.  16.      '  Rom.  viii.  12,  13.     *  Ibid. 


THE    REVERSION    TO    LEGALISM 


319 


"  If  you  are  exchanging  measurable  maxims  for  immeasurable 
principles,  surely  you  are  rising  from  the  mason  to  the  architect." — F.  W. 
Robertson. 

"  Sects  are  evil  only  when  they  become  sectarian ;  that  is,  when 
differences  of  apprehension  count  for  more  than  the  object  apprehended  ; 
when  everything  is  spent  on  fences,  while  the  fields  themselves  are  given 
over  to  weeds  and  briers." — Hyde's  Social  Theology. 

"  A  philosopher's  life  is  spent  in  discovering  that,  of  the  half-dozen 
truths  he  knew  when  a  child,  such  an  one  is  a  lie,  as  the  world  states  it 
in  set  terms  ;  and  then  after  a  weary  lapse  of  years,  and  plenty  of  hard 
thinking,  it  becomes  a  truth  again  after  all,  as  he  happens  to  newly 
consider  it  and  view  it  in  a  different  relation  with  the  others;  and  so  he 
restates  it,  to  the  confusion  of  somebody  else  in  good  time." — Browning's 
SouPs  Tragedy. 


sao 


o 


CHAPTER    XXII 

THE   REVERSION   TO    LEGALISM 

NE  of  the  greatest  services  which  Paul  rendered 
to  Christianity  was  his  defence  of  the  Christian 
faith  against  the  various  aberrations  to  which  it  was 
exposed  on  account  of  the  tendencies  of  thought 
and  life  which  played  upon  it  in  his  time.  These 
tendencies  forced  him  to  define  not  only  what  the 
Gospel  was,  but  also  what  it  was  not.  Indeed,  one 
might  say  that  the  Apostle  has  met  and  fought  the 
vanguard  of  the  various  hostile  forces  which  have 
from  time  to  time  attacked  the  Christian  faith,  and 
has  formulated  the  general  line  of  defence  which  the 
Church  must  ever  adopt.  These  tendencies  spring 
perennially  from  the  depths  of  human  nature.  They 
are  in  all  ages  the  same  in  spirit,  though  different  in 
form  ;  and  their  recrudescence  in  the  "  carnal  mind  " 
may  be  anticipated  as  part  of  the  providential  discipline 
by  which  the  Christian  faith  has  to  assert  itself  in  order 
to  preserve  its  purity  and  wholesomeness. 

We  have  already  considered  Paul's  defence  of  the 
Gospel  against  spiritual  extravagance,  against  an 
intellcctualism  which  threatened  to  reduce  Christianity 
to  a  mere  philosophy,  and  against  the  ascetic  movement 
which  threatened,  in  the  interests  of  a  false  spirituality, 
to  deny  the  legitimate  claims  of  the  natural  life.     We 

321  21 


322    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUx'\L  LIFE 

now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  another  aberration, 
more  subtle  and  for  that  reason  more  dangerous,  having 
to  all  appearance  deeper  afifinities  with  the  Christian 
faith — the  tendency  to  fall  back  on  the  law  and  the 
doing  of  righteousness  as  a  substitute  for,  or  as  a 
supplement  to,  the  Gospel.  This  is  the  aberration  of 
Legalism. 

At  first  sight  the  tendency  to  legalism  seems  com- 
paratively innocent.  Is  not  the  law  the  law  of  God  ? 
Has  it  not  a  permanent  validity  ?  Is  it  not  holy  and 
just  ?  Is  not  the  doing  of  the  law  the  end  alike  of 
the  law  and  of  the  Gospel  ?  Was  not  Christianity  born 
.and  cradled  in  Judaism  ?  Why  should  not  the  old 
faith  live  with  the  new  ? 

Paul  apprehended  the  danger  that  lay  in  the  blood- 
relationship  of  the  law  and  the  Gospel.  The  latter 
was  in  a  profound  sense  the  child  of  the  former.  Yet 
the  one  was  so  much  an  advance  upon  the  other  that 
the  new  inheritance  secured  by  the  Gospel  had  to  be 
maintained  at  all  costs  and  against  all  comers.  By 
keenness  of  spiritual  insight  and  by  bitterness  of  ex- 
perience the  Apostle  knew  that  the  legal  tendency 
was  a  falling  back  upon  "  weak  and  beggarly  elements," 
a  denial  of  the  strength  and  richness  of  the  Christian 
faith,  a  making  void  of  the  grace  of  God,  a  glorification 
of  Judaism  which  detracted  from  the  glory  of  the 
cross  of  Christ,  a  return  to  a  method  of  life  the  failure 
of  which  in  Pharisaism  was  the  strongest  argument  for 
the  Gospel  of  grace.  Hence  he  contended  against 
legalism  with  all  the  earnestness  and  passion  of  personal 
conviction,  assured  that  the  faith  which  justifies  and 
sanctifies  must  be  kept  free  from  all  legal  assumptions 
and  restrictions  and  additions  if  it  is   to  preserve  its 


THE  REVERSION   TO  LEGALISM       323 

simplicity  and  power  and  universality.  It  is,  he  says, 
"  a  different  Gospel  ;  which  is  not  another  " — so  different 
that  it  is  not  only  not  a  second  Gospel,  but  no  Gospel 
at  all,  for  it  would  even  "  pervert  the  Gospel  of 
Christ"! 

Paul  himself  could  speak  on  this  subject  as  few 
others.  He  had  tried  to  scale  the  weary  steeps  of 
legal  obedience  with  the  shining  peaks  of  holiness  ever 
before  him,  luring  on  his  willing  but  aching  feet ;  but, 
having  exhausted  all  the  possibilities  of  legalism,  he 
was  forced  to  give  up  and  retrace  his  steps.  He  found 
an  easier  and  better  way  :  a  way  to  which  no  man 
directed  him,  which  he  himself  had  not  discovered, 
but  which  was  made  known  to  him  "  by  the  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ"^ — the  swift  ascent  to  the  summit  on 
the  wings  of  grace  and  faith.  Having  reached  the  end 
of  all  his  striving,  he  could  look  back  upon  his  futile 
experiments  in  righteousness  by  legal  doings  as  one 
who  was  more  than  a  critic,  as  one  who  had  put  all  the 
resources  of  the  law  to  the  test  and  could  only  confess 
that,  as  touching  the  law,  he  remained  but  a  Pharisee, 
whilst,  as  touching  righteousness,  he  could  claim  nothing 
but  the  negative  merit  of  blamelessness.'  The  Apostle 
saw  in  his  own  experience  the  epitome  of  history. 
Devotion  to  law  as  a  means  of  righteousness  had  in 
Israel  ended  in  the  stereotyped  life  of  punctilious  and 
pusillanimous  Pharisaism.  He  himself  had  been  swept 
away  in  the  current  of  his  times  and  had  only  escaped 
by  the  intervention  of  the  Deliverer. 

But,  although  the  law  did  not,  and  could  not,  secure 
salvation  for  man,  it  fulfilled  an  important  part  in  the 
divine    economy.     It   was   a   negative   preparation   for 

»  Gal.  i.  6,  7,  R.V.  »  Ibid.  i.  12.  »  Phil.  iii.  5,  6. 


324    CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  discovered  sin  and  brought 
home  the  sense  of  guilt  to  man  ;  it  intensified  sin  by 
calling  out  its  resistance  ;  it  showed  its  own  strength 
and  weakness  in  condemning  sinners  whom  it  could 
not  save ;  it  proved  its  own  futility  as  a  means  of 
salvation,  and  left  men  no  escape  but  in  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  "  I  through  the  law,"  said  Paul, 
"  died  unto  the  law."  ^  In  the  Apostle's  religious 
experience  the  law  worked  out  deliverance  from  the 
law ;  and  yet  it  had  attained  its  true  end  in  shutting 
him  up  to  faith  in  the  Crucified  :  "  For  Christ  is  the 
end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that 
believeth."  ^ 

The  truth  of  this  judgment  which  the  Apostle  passes 
upon  legal  righteousness  may  be  verified  by  any  one 
who  cares  to  make  the  experiment.  Let  any  man 
set  righteousness  before  him  as  the  end  of  all  his 
conduct,  and  lay  himself  under  strict  obedience  to  a 
set  of  injunctions  and  prohibitions  with  a  view  to  that 
end,  and  what  will  be  his  experience?  His  verdict 
will  almost  certainly  be  this :  he  never  knew  that  he 
was  so  bad  till  he  tried  to  be  good  ;  his  rules  exasperate 
him  and  make  every  breach  of  them  a  spiritual  pain  ; 
on  every  side  his  laws  condemn  him  and  afford  no 
inspiration  or  help  by  which  they  can  be  kept.  What 
he  needs  for  all  this  mechanism  is  a  new  dynamic, 
and  that  is  not  to  be  discovered  in  any  regimen  of 
conduct.  He  finds  that  the  attempt  to  produce  holy 
living  to  order  is  futile,  or  ends  at  best  in  nothing 
better  than  Pharisaic  externalism,  so  long  as  the  heart 
is  unchanged  ;  that  the  change  cannot  come  from  the 
circumference  of  doing,  but  from  the  centre  by  a  fresh 
»  Gal.  ii.  19,  R.V.  »  Rom.  x.  4. 


THE   REVERSION   TO   LEGALISM       325 

access  of  being ;  that  the  endeavour  to  live  by  law 
makes  him  die  to  law,  and  forces  him  back  to  Christ 
The  attempt  of  legalism,  when  honestly  carried  out, 
works  its  own  cure,  and  becomes  a  negative  preparation 
for  the  adoption  of  the  Gospel  method,  which  begins 
by  renewing  man  in  the  springs  of  his  life,  and  regulates 
the  circumference  from  the  centre,  doing  by  being. 

The  truth  is  that  all  legal  righteousness  is  vitiated 
by  the  effort  to  produce  by  the  enforcement  of  rule 
what  we  can  only  produce  by  the  spontaneous  action 
of  our  own  inner  nature.  It  is  a  noble  hypocrisy  in 
which  we  strive  to  appear  what  we  know  we  are  not — 
a  decoration  of  the  tree  of  life  with  fruits  which  do 
not  grow,  but  are  only  mechanically  attached.  Our 
best  actions  are  but  works  of  the  law,  strained  piety  ; 
ours  and  yet  not  ours.  Whereas  the  product  of  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  is  "  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  and  is 
brought  forth,  as  fruit  always  is,  without  effort, 
without  strain,  as  the  natural  expression  of  the  new  life 
of  grace. 

Experience  had  thus  proved  that  legalism  could  not 
be  a  substitute  for  the  Gospel.  Nor  could  it  be  a 
supplement  to  the  Gospel.  It  was  not  only  "  not 
another  "  Gospel,  but  it  was  "a  different  Gospel,"  which 
could  not  harmonise  with,  far  less  supplement,  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Yet  the  attempt  was  made 
in  the  Churches  of  Galatia  to  put  a  patch  of  outworn 
legalism  upon  the  fresh  new  garment  of  the  Christian 
faith.  Paul  regarded  the  attempt  to  compromise  with 
observances  and  rules  and  traditions  as  a  distinct 
retrogression  from  the  freedom  with  which  Christ  had 
made  us  free.  It  was  a  return  to  the  "  weak  and 
beggarly    elements,"   a   deliberate    resumption    of   the 


326    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

"  yoke  of  bondage,"  an  entanglement  which  was  insepar- 
able from  ritual.^ 

Ritual  in  worship  or  life  as  a  fresh  creation  may 
be  the  genuine  and  fitting  expression  of  the  spirit, 
but  when  it  becomes  a  tradition  it  voices  the  spirit 
in  falsetto  notes.  We  have  to  do  violence  to  the 
spirit  by  forcing  it  into  old  forms,  by  dressing  it  in 
the  cast-off  garments  of  a  previous  generation ;  and 
the  tendency  always  is  to  sacrifice  the  spirit  of  liberty 
to  the  letter  of  obedience,  to  make  the  doing  of  right- 
eousness more  important  than  the  being  righteous, 
to  give  God  the  service  of  acts  approved  by  men 
rather  than  to  love  God  with  a  filial  heart.  It  is  the 
old  Pharisaic  story  of  legalism — the  tithing  of  mint, 
anise,  and  cumin,  and  neglecting  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law ;  only  it  is  a  new  and  worse  version  of 
the  story ;  for  it  is  the  stifling  of  the  freedom 
of  the  Christian  life  of  faith  by  sacrificing  the  fresh 
and  spontaneous  impulses  of  the  new  life  in  Christ 
to  fixed  forms  of  worship,  stereotyped  conceptions 
of  duty,  limitations  and  prohibitions  and  observances, 
which  may  be  right  or  wrong,  true  or  false,  to  the 
soul.  The  legalism  which  is  introduced  as  a  supplement 
to  support  or  eke  out  the  weakness  of  our  faith  may 
remain  as  a  substitute  to  supplant  it. 

This  tendency  to  legalism  forms  one  of  the  principal 
movements  incidental  to  the  spiritual  life  of  Churches 
and  individuals.  There  are  three  such  movements. 
The  first  is  that  of  simple  buoyant  faith,  confident 
in  itself,  beautiful  as  the  bursting  of  blossoms  in  spring, 
instinct  with  hope,  and  rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of 
the  new  life.  Then  the  reaction — faith,  fatigued  by 
»  Gal.  T.  I. 


THE   REVERSION   TO   LEGALISM       327 

its  own  energetic  action,  exhausted  by  its  own  im- 
petuosity and  zeal,  falling  back  upon  forms  of  words 
and  service  and  act,  which  were  once  instinct  with 
significance,  cleaving  fast  to  correct  evangelical  phrase- 
ology, leaning  its  weakness  on  the  crutches  of  rules 
of  life  once  approved  as  right  and  natural.  It  is  the 
period  of  legalism — dreary,  disappointing,  censorious, 
strained.  Then  comes  the  revival  of  faith — a  more 
serene  and  sober  and  lasting  faith,  in  which  we  know 
our  weakness  and  strength,  and  cease  to  stake  off 
life  with  fixed  rules  for  ourselves  and  others.  We 
become  more  tolerant  of  deviations  from  our  ways 
of  thinking  and  doing,  believing  that  the  Spirit  may 
find  many  ways  of  expression  in  word  and  act.  Enriched 
by  a  sobering  experience,  we  learn  to  trust  again 
with  our  first  implicit  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  whose 
pity  is  our  refuge  and  whose  power  is  our  strength. 

We  see  the  first  stage  in  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful,  who  trusted  God  as  a  simple  child,  and 
it  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness.  ^  The  faith 
of  God  filled  his  heart  as  a  great  wonder  :  he  laid  down 
no  rules  for  his  life,  fixed  no  plans  for  the  serving 
of  the  Lord,  but  trusted  to  the  inner  impulse  of  the 
Spirit,  and  went  out  into  life  "  not  knowing  whither 
he  went,"  believing  that  the  land  of  promise  was  ever 
in  front  of  him.  In  the  first  movement,  or  stage,  are 
also  all  those  "  children  of  Abraham,"  ^  the  fresh  converts 
of  the  Church,  who  rejoice  in  their  deliverance  from 
sin  and  in  their  new  freedom  of  holiness,  who  believe, 
hope,     and     endure    all     things,     whose     love    knows 

»  Gal.  iii.  6. 

'  Ibid.  7.  "  Know  ye  therefore  that  they  which  are  of  faith,  the 
same  are  the  children  of  Abraham." 


328     CULTURE   OF   THE   SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

no  weariness,  whose  services  know  no  grudging  or 
reckoning ;  to  whom  the  love  of  Christ  is  the 
touchstone  by  which  they  try  all  things  as  to 
allowance  or  prohibition  ;  in  whom  the  new  spirit, 
like  a  divine  instinct,  gives  its  verdict  as  to  right 
and  wrong,  and  liberates  from  external  judgments. 
It  is  the  time  of  love's  espousals,  when  duty  is  clear 
and  imperative,  and  deeds  of  love  come  spontaneously 
from  the  fulness  of  the  heart  that  is  wedded  to 
Christ. 

The  second  stage  or  movement  may  be  seen  in 
the  later  years  of  Judaism,  when  the  first  faith  of  its 
father  Abraham  was  exhausted,  and  the  old  delight 
in  doing  God's  will  had  passed  away.  The  awe  and 
mystery  of  God  had  been  lost  to  the  soul,  and  men 
craved  for  dcfiniteness  in  opinion  and  conduct,  refining 
and  double-refining  rules  for  regulating  a  life  which 
had  lost  the  self-regulation  of  the  Spirit — a  time  in 
which,  as  it  were,  man  roamed  over  the  slopes  of  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord  in  search  of  geological  and 
botanical  specimens,  but  blind  to  its  beauty  and  mystery 
and  awe ;  the  age  of  Rabbinical  casuists  and  petti- 
fogging law-makers,  not  the  age  of  law-givers  and 
poets  and  prophets  who  lived  in  the  ineffable  Presence. 
It  is  the  age  of  censoriousness  of  others  rather  than 
of  self ;  of  burden-laying  rather  than  burden-bearing  ; 
of  deadly  doing  rather  than  of  living  faith  ;  the  age 
which  breeds  the  Pharisee  and  the  Legalist. 

Through  this  stage  also  passes  many  a  young  convert 
of  the  Church,  in  whom  the  first  flush  of  faith  has 
given  place  to  spiritual  fatigue  and  depression.  When 
simple  faith  seems  to  fail,  there  is  a  falling  back  upon 
mechanical  obedience,  a  self-exaction  which  is  joyless. 


THE   REVERSION   TO   LEGALISM      329 

a  censoriousness  which  in  its  exasperation  ceases  to 
turn  upon  self  and  exercises  itself  upon  others.  It 
is  in  this  mood  that  the  fatal  suspicion  begins  to  creep 
over  the  soul  that,  whilst  Christ  is  sufficient  to  justify, 
He  is  not  sufficient  to  sanctify ;  that  the  work  which 
He  has  begun  by  grace  we  must  complete  by  merit ; 
that  we  must  add  to  the  purchase-price  by  a  dreary 
round  of  loveless  doings.  It  is  the  aberration  into 
legalism,  the  falling  away  from  the  Gospel  into  "a 
different  Gospel,  which  is  not  another." 

In  the  third  stage  we  may  place  the  Judaism  of 
the  Christian  Church,  represented  by  Peter  and  John 
and  Paul,  in  whom  the  flame  of  Abrahamic  faith  bursts 
forth  in  new  brilliancy  and  warmth — a  faith  enriched 
as  well  as  chastened  by  the  discipline  of  its  experience 
in  the  wilderness  of  Rabbinical  legalism  and  Pharisaic 
righteousness.  Here,  too,  we  find  all  those  who  have 
learned  that  they  can  add  nothing  to  what  Christ  has 
done,  that  the  Christian  life  is  not  lived  by  rote  and 
rule  as  a  drudgery,  but  by  great  principles  imparted  by 
the  Spirit,  that  simple  faith  is  good  for  everything, 
and  that  Christ  is  all  in  all.  It  is  the  season  of  the 
Spirit's  fruition,  in  which  experience  worketh  hope, "and 
hope  maketh  not  ashamed  "  ^ — a  period  in  the  life  of 
the  Spirit  corresponding  to  that  of  the  autumn-pause 
in  nature,  during  which  the  trees  rest  after  their  struggle 
with  the  elements  and  their  labour  of  growth,  putting 
on  their  sober  and  beautiful  tints  before  the  ripe  fruit 
is  garnered  and  the  branches  are  stripped  of  the  glory 
of  their  foliage. 

The  failure  of  legalism  as  a  substitute  for,  or  as  a 
supplement  to,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  may  be 
'  Rom.  V.  5. 


330    CULTURE  OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

attributed  to  several  inherent  defects.  These  defects 
may  best  be  seen  when  set  against  the  saving  efficacy 
of  the  evangelical  faith.  The  contrast  may  be  expressed 
in  three  ways. 

All  laws — the  law  of  Moses,  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  the  maxims  of  present-day  rationalistic 
philosophy,  as  well  as  our  own  self-made  rules  of 
conduct — command  from  without  ^ ;  the  Gospel  constrains 
from  within.  Laws  come  to  us  as  an  external  authority, 
laying  upon  us  burdens  of  obligation,  without  en- 
abling the  will  to  obey  that  which  it  approves.  We 
may  mistake  approval  for  obedience.  Many  men 
accept  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  for  instance,  as 
the  Christianity  which  they  profess  ;  but  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  is  a  law,  more  spiritual  than  that  of 
Sinai,  and  more  difficult.  The  effort  to  regulate  life 
by  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  because  of  its  inward 
scrutiny  and  its  high  demand  for  purity  and  righteous- 
ness of  heart,  if  the  effort  be  made  apart  from  Christ, 
is  certain  to  result  in  the  usual  effects  of  legal  obedience 
— an  intensified  sense  of  sin  and  guilt,  a  severer  self- 
condemnation,  and  a  conviction  of  inability  to  purify 
the  springs  of  action  by  the  effort  of  obedience.  We 
need  the  impulse  from  within,  the  renewed  will  that 
is  brought  into  harmony  with  the  will  of  God,  of 
which  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the  highest  ex- 
pression. We  may  approve  the  Sermon  and  reject 
the  Cross,  but  unless  we  accept  the  Cross  we  cannot 
live  the  Sermon.  When  we  have  been  crucified  with 
Christ,  and  have  risen  with  Him  in  newness  of  life,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  no  longer  an  external  command: 
it  is  the  natural  expression  in  life  of  the  new  nature 
'  Vide  Strong's  Christian  Ethics,  22. 


THE  REVERSION  TO   LEGALISM       331 

which   we    have    received    from    God    through    Jesus 
Christ. 

Again,  legalism  demands  only  tJte  obedience  of  servants^ 
faith  expects  the  loyalty  of  sons.  In  a  sense  it  is  easier 
to  live  as  a  servant  than  as  a  son.  The  one  gives 
his  service,  the  other  his  heart ;  the  one  the  part, 
the  Mother  the  whole  ;  the  one  regulates  his  conduct  by 
duty,  the  other  by  love ;  the  one  has  exhausted  his 
obligation  when  the  master's  command  has  been 
performed,  the  other  finds  no  limit  to  his  service  save 
his  father's  will.  In  the  legalism  of  servants  we  may 
do  our  daily  task  with  automatic  exactness,  but  with 
the  loyalty  of  sons  we  need  no  rule  or  ritual  of 
service,  for,  "because  we  are  sons,  God  hath  sent 
forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  into  our  hearts,  crying, 
Abba,  Father,"  ^  and  the  Father's  will  is  interpreted 
and  obeyed  by  the  "  faith  which  worketh  by  love."  ^ 
In  this  way  we  pass  out  of  a  life  dominated  by 
formulated  laws  into  that  which  has  the  inspiration 
of  the  illimitable  principles  of  faith.  A  high  standard 
of  morality  is  never  reached  by  mechanical  obedience, 
but  by  the  ventures  of  faith  and  love  made  by  those 
who  believe  themselves  to  be  not  the  slaves  of  a  hard 
task-master,  but  the  children  of  a  loving  Father. 

The  third  contrast  between  legal  obedience  and 
evangelical  faith  consists  in  this  :  the  former  approves  of 
Christ  as  an  Ideal,  the  latter  appropriates  Him  as  a 
Power.  These  two  attitudes  towards  Christ  are  very 
different.  If  Christ  be  to  us  only  an  ideal,  our  highest 
endeavour  is  to  approach  His  perfection  by  imitation. 
We  imitate  Him  in  words  and  spirit  and  act.  But 
the  imitation  of  Christ  produces  at  the  best  only 
»  Gal.  ir.  6.  «  Ibid.  v.  6. 


332    CULTURE   OF  THE   SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

imitation  Christians — Christians  who  have  not  got  beyond 
the  copying  stage.  What  Christ  expects  is  that  we 
appropriate  Him  as  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation," 
as  a  new  life  which  expresses  itself  naturally  after 
the  manner  of  His  own.  In  the  one  case,  we  are  left 
to  ourselves  to  realise  the  ideal ;  in  the  other  case, 
the  ideal  becomes  a  self-realising  power  within  us. 

Still,  though  we  thus  contrast  legal  obedience  and 
evangelical  faith,  there  is  a  higher  plane  in  which 
the  contrast  disappears.  The  essence  of  the  law  is 
love,  and  love  is  the  very  soul  of  the  Gospel.  Love 
fulfils  the  law.  "The  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one 
word,  even  in  this ;  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour 
as  thyself"^  In  the  exercise  of  Christian  faith,  thy 
neighbour  has  become  a  brother,  and  the  love  of 
members  of  the  same  family  is  not  something  which 
we  need  to  force :  it  is  natural.  Thus  "  faith  that 
worketh  by  love"  ensures  obedience  to  the  law,  not 
on  the  line  of  legal  obedience,  but  on  that  of  family 
loyalty. 

»  Gal.  V.  14,  R  V. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Aberrations  in  the  spiri- 
tual life  .         .         .  280 

Affliction,  a  testimony  to 
the  unity  of  the  race    .   158 

—  a  punishment  and  pro- 
test against  sin      .         .157 

—  a  preventive    of    moral 

disintegration         .         .158 

—  part  of  the  order  of  the 
world     .         .         .         .157 

—  the  mystery  of       .         '153 

—  transfigured  on  the  Cross  158 
Amiel  .  .  .  .62 
Amphion  .  .  .  .76 
Andromeda  .  .  -311 
Appetite  of  the  flesh  .  .  204 
Asceticism,  practical  re- 
sults of  .         .         •         •311 

—  as  a  moral  ritual     .         .312 
— tends  to  detract  from  the 

glory  of  the  Cross  .         .312 
Ascetic     element     in     the 
teaching  of  Jesus   .         •  31S 

—  ideal  in  Christ  .         .310 

—  spirit  in  the  Church         .  306 

—  spirit  in  Paul  .         .316 

Body,  the,  the  organ  of  the 
spirit     ....  206 

—  sanctification  of  the        .  317 

Casuistry  .        .        .172 

Celibacy,  Paul's  preference 
for  ....  223 

—  Paul's  view  of         .         .221 
Censor iousness  of  the  spiri- 
tual       ....  273 

Chastity  in  men  .         .         .204 

—  in  women        .         .         .  207 


PAGB- 

Chesterton.  .         .     64,  173 

Children,  duty  of         .         .   240 
Christ,  a  self-realising  power 
in  the  believer        .         .     49 

—  the    Standard    and    the 

Power  of  the  new  life       .     46 
Christian  religion,  the,  not  a 
philosophy     .         .         .  292 

—  Science,   a  needed  mes- 


sage      .... 

its  rational  basis 

unsatisfactoriness  of  . 

Church,    Paul's    theory    of 

the         ...         . 
Compassion 
Conscience  .... 

—  a  good    .... 

—  a  good,  not  enough  .   170,  172 

—  a  judge,  not  an  advocate  i68' 

—  cases  of   .         .   173,  174,  177 

—  limited  by  the  conscience 
of  others 

—  toward  others 
Courage,  Paul's  . 
Courtesy  and  egotism . 

—  and  fault-finding     . 

—  and  humility  . 

—  and  love 

—  Christian,  Paul  as  an  ex 
ponent  of 

—  in  small  things 

—  in  speech 

—  Paul's,  in  letter-writing 

—  principles  of    . 

—  the  flower    of  Christian 
conduct 

—  towards  superiors   . 

—  towards  the  humble  and 
obscure .         .         ,         .132 


114 
"5 
"5 

264 
263 
167 
169 


168 
172 

143 
125 
127 

124 
123 

123 
131 
125 
133 
123 

122 
129 


333 


334 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Creed,  not  the  test  of  the 
Christian        .         .         .  297 


Dante 

Depression,  Paul's  fits  of 
Disorder  of  the  world  due  to 
man 

Enigma  of  life     . 
Ethics,  Greek,  results  of 

—  Pauline  and  Greek  con 
trasted  . 

—  Pauline,  relation  to 
Paul's  theology 

Ethical  teaching  of  Paul,  its 
theological  basis     . 

to  be  judged  by  its 

moral  results 

Evil,  natural,  not  perplex 
ing  to  Christ  . 

Faith,  a  divine  creation 

—  and  reason 

—  ethical  value  of 

—  exhausted       .         -327, 

—  not  a  substitute  for 
knowledge 

—  spiritually  effective 

—  verified  by  doing  rather 
than  by  thinking  . 

—  What  is  it  ?     . 
Fault-finding,  courteous 
Feeble,  necessity  of  the 
Flesh,  sanctification  of 
Frailty,  moral,  attitude  of 

the  Christian  towards 

Generosity,  hard  to  culti 

vate  late  in  life 
Giving,  the  grace  of 
Gospel,  the,  significance  of 

the         .         .         . 
Greenwell,  Dora . 

Holiness,  not  attained  by 

self-severity  . 
Home,  the,  and  society 

—  the,  and   he  Church 

—  the,  the  economy  of 
Honour,  filial 


19 

58 

iSS 

IS 
7 

4 

3 

9 

5 

154 

29 

32 

35 

328 

31 
33 

296 

30 

27 

267 

314 

271 


183 

28 
93 


318 
233 
233 
234 
242 


Humility  and  courage 

—  essential    to    self-know- 
ledge     .         ,         .         . 

—  in  Paul  .... 

—  not  a  Pagan  virtue  . 

—  the  characteristic  note  of 
the  temper  of  Christ 

Husband  and  wife 


PAOS 

143 

142 

143 
140 

141 
347 


Idleness    ....  275 

Imperfections,  as  incidents 
in  our  sanctification     41,  48 

Intellect,  the  place  of,  in  re- 
ligion    .         .         .         .291 

Intercessory  prayer,  the 
efficacy  of      .         .         .98 

the  mystery  of  .       98,  99 

Justification  by  faith       27,  36 
—  by  works,  impossible       .     29 


Law,  the,  a  negative  pre 
paration  for  the  Gospel 
Legalism 

—  danger  of  a  new 

—  inherent  defects  of  . 

—  not  a  substitute  for  the 
Gospel 

—  its  righteousness  a  noble 
hypocrisy 

—  Paul's  experience  of 

—  tendency  towards  .    322 
Liberality   . 

—  a  grace  . 

—  deliberate 

—  enforced  by  example  of 
Christ 

—  enforced  by  example  of 
the  Macedonians 

—  method  of 

—  preserves    the    sense    of 
dependence  upon  God 

—  principle  of,  in  steward 
ship 

—  proportionate 

—  spirituality  of 

—  systematic 

—  the  proof  of  our  love 


323 

321 

52 
330 

32s 

325 
323 
327 
130 
183 
196 

186 

187 
194 

189 

18S 
195 
184 
194 
190 


the  spirit  of  the  Christian  191 


Love  and  law 


73 


GENERAL    INDEX 


335 


FAOG 

Love,  crowning  of        .         .80 

—  enthronement  of    .         -78 

—  immortality  of        .         -83 

—  man's,  the  interpreter  of 
God's  love      .         .         '75 

—  of  Christ,  Paul's  concep- 
tion of   .         .         .         .71 

—  Paul's  Hymn  of      .         .76 

—  Paul's  praise  of       .         -71 

—  rehabilitation      of      the 
word      .         .         .         -77 

—  reign  of  .         .         .         .82 

—  the  bond  of  perfectness  .     75 

—  the  harmoniser  of  differ- 

ences     .         .         .         .76 

—  the  inspiration  of  Chris- 
tian conduct  .        .        '73 

—  the  key  of  the  knowledge 

of  God  .  .  .  '74 
Luther        .         .         .         .110 

Man  and  woman        .    201,  209 

complementary  of  each 

other      ....  227 

—  Scriptural  view  of  .         .     19 
Man's  relation  to  nature      .     16 
Marcus  Aurelius .         .         .17 
Marriage,  a  divine  institu- 
tion       ....  226 

—  and  celibacy  .         .    219,229 

—  a  type  of  the  relation  of 
Christ  and  the  Church    .  228 

—  identification   of   life   of 

husband  and  wife  in  .239 
Masters  and  servants  .  .257 
Mind-cure  .  .  .  .114 
Mind,  renewal  of,  demanded 

by  Christianity      .         .107 


Nature  and  man 


.  156 


Obedience,  filial         .        .  240 
Obscure,  the,  in  society       .  268 

—  their  claim  to  honour       .  265 

—  the  place  of  the,  in  the 
Church  ....  264 

Onesimus    ....  256 
Optunism,  Christian    .         -57 

—  its  source  in  grace  .       59,  65 


PAOB 

Optimism  of  Paul        .         -57 
Orthodoxy,        hard       and 

wooden ....  283 
Over-anxiety       .         ,    112,279 
Over-spirituality     in     doc- 
trine      ....  282 

—  in  worship      .        .        .285 

Pagan  life  ....  203 
Pain,  conquered  by  sub- 
mission .  .  .  .160 
Parental  duty  .  .  .  243 
Parents  and  children  .  .  240 
Patience  .  .  ,  .145 
Paul  and  Agrippa  .  .129 
Paul's  view  of  sin  .  .  19 
Perseus  .  .  .  .311 
Perseverance  .  .  .  145 
Pessimism  and  naturalistic 
philosophies  .         .         .61 

—  and  la  maladie  de  I' ideal     62 

—  and  realism  .  .  .63 
Pertinacity  .  .  .147 
Philemon,  Epistle  to  .  .132 
Plutarch  .  .  .  .15 
Poverty  .  .  .  .275 
Power,  Christ  a,  which  do- 
minates man's  person- 
ality     .         .         .         .50 

Prayer,  a  labour  .         .     92 

—  a  privilege  purchased  by 
Christ    .         .         .         .88 

—  and  faith        .         .        87,  89 

—  and  fixed  laws         .         .92 

—  and  the  co-operation  of 
the  Spirit       .         .         -95 

—  and  the  surrender  of  the 
will        .         .         .         .90 

—  and  the  supernatural      ,     92 

—  as  intercession         .         .     96 

—  dissociated    from    wrath 
and  disputing         .         .101 

—  distinctive  note  of  Chris- 
tian       .         .         ,         .88 

—  does  it  alter  anything  ?  .     91 

—  natural  and  necessary     .     87 
Prodigal  Son,  view  of  sin  in 

parable  of  the         .         .23 
Purity,  Paul's  teaching  re- 
garding.        .         .         .  204 


336 


GENERAL    INDEX 


PAGB 

Reason  and  the  Gospel      .  296 

—  in  relation  to  faith  .  .  32 
Renunciation  as  a  solution 

of  the  problem  of  temp- 
tation   ....  307 
Resentment         .         .         .111 
Reserve,  Paul's  method  of  .  250 
Resistance  as  a  solution  of 
the  problem  of  tempta- 
tion       ....  307 
Ritual,    the    falsetto    note 

in .         .         .         .         .  326 
Romanes,  George  J.,  34,  296,  297 

Sanctification,   the  basis 
of  final  judgment  .         .     2i7 

—  the  life  of        .         .         .38 

—  the  solution  of  the  ethical 
problem  .         .         .  309 

Self-esteem  .         .         .111 

Sin,  as  alienation  from  God  .     20 

—  as  bondage  to  a  hostile 
power    .         .         .         .22 

—  as  disobedience  to  God  .     2 1 

—  Paul's  personification  of.     23 

—  the  Christian  conception 

of 16 

—  the  Pagan  conception  of  17 
Sinners,  Christ's  treatment 

of 271 

Slave,  Paul's  personal  treat- 
ment of  the    .         .         .  250 

—  social  position  of  the  .  250 
Slaves,  Paul's  advice  to  .  252 
Slavery        ....  249 

—  Paul's  attitude  towards  .  251 
Social  reform,   Paul's   atti- 
tude towards  .         .  202 

Spiritual  life,   divine  sanc- 
tions of  the    .         .         .     40 

—  growth  in  the  .         .     47 

—  not  divorced  from  com- 
mon life         .         .        38,  52 

Speculative    subtlety    and 
moral  laxity  .        .        .  300 


PAGS 

Spirituality,   what  ?    .         .  287 
Stewardship,     based     upon 
redemption    .         .         .186 

—  the  principle  of  liberality  185 
Stoics  ....  8 
Submission,  sanctified  .  236 
Suffering  and  sin          .         .156 

—  the  ministry  of       .    161,163 
Sympathy,  learned  by  suf- 
fering    .         .         .         .163 


Temper,    elements    of    the 

Christian 
Theology,     Paul's,     experi 

ence  theorised 
Theological  system  not  re 

quisite  to  the  Christian 
Thinking  the  best 
based  on  the  resurrec 

tion 
Thorn,  the  Order  of  the 
Thoreau 
Thought  and  life  .  105,  106 

—  and  prayer 

—  subjects  of  Christian 

—  therapeutic  value  of 
Thoughts,   habitual,   deter 

mine  character 
Tongues,  the  gift  of    . 
Truth,  the  balance  of  . 


139 

45 

293 
105 

108 
161 
64 
no 
los 
109 
113 

106 
285 
283 


Weak  in  faith,  the,  duty  of 
strong  towards       .         .  268 

—  the  place  of  the  .  266,  268 
Widows,  treatment  of  .  274 
Wives  and  husbands  .  .237 
Woman  and  man  contrasted  209 

—  unveiled  .  .  .212 
Women,  emancipation  of    .211 

—  speaking  in  Church  .  212 
World,    the,    sanctified    to 

the  Christian  .         .312 

YiELDiNGNESS  and  pertina- 
city       ,        ,        ,         .147 


INDEX    OF   TEXTS 


Genesis 

John 

PAGB 

PAGE 

PAGE 

iv.  15 

.       21 

i.  27  . 

208 

iv.  14 

72 

V.  I     . 

•     Z6 

V.  I,  2 

210 

V.  14 

157 

V.  2    . 

•  36 

viii.  49 

243 

V.  3-5 

36, 164 

Job 

X.  10. 

315 

V.  5    - 

.  329 

xii.  4,  6      . 

153 

V.  10. 

•     37 

Acts 

V.  12 

21,  24 

Proverbs 

ix.  I  . 

144 

V.  19. 

.     22 

xxiii.  7 

105 

ix.  II 
xi.  25,  26 

87 
146 

V.  21  . 

vi.  6  . 

.  24 
.     24 

Matthew 

xvi.  3 

149 

vi.  II 
vi.  12 

•  313 
22,  24 

iii.  17 

241 

XX.  22-24 

149 

vi.  13 
vi.  17 
vi.  20 

•     22 

V.  39-41 

146 

xxi.  11-13 

149 

.  31 
.     22 

x.  8    . 

191 

xxiii.  I 

170 

xii.  36 
xiii.  5,  6 
xiii.  28 

284 

204 

18 

xxiii.  3 
xxiv.  16 
xxvi.  3 

144 
169 
129 

vi.  23 
vii.  9 
vii.  II 

.     22 

.  24 
.     24 

XV.  28 
xix.  4,  5 

94 
223 

xxvi.  9 
xxvi.  II 

171 
144 

vii.  14 
vii.  17 
vii.  19 
vii.  24 
vii.  24,  25 
vii.  25 
viii.  2 

.     24 

.     24 

xix.  12 
xix.  16 
xix.  21 
XXV.  35,  36 

223 
216 
216 

82 

xxvi.  14 
xxvi.  22 
xxvi.  26 
xxvi.  27 

171 

147 
129 
129 

.  27 
.  20 
.  66 
.     24 

XXV.  40 

258 

xxvi.  29     . 

130 

•   "7 

viii.  10 

.  313 
.  318 

Mark 

Romans 

viii.  12.  13 

ix.  42,  43,  45,  4/ 

315 

i.  4     . 

■     49 

viii.  15 

.     95 

xii.  41 

191 

i.  8,  10,  II 

100 

viii.  17 

.  163 

i.  9-15 

126 

viii.  19-22 

.  156 

Luke 

i.  II,  12 

126 

viii.  21 

.         .     67 

xi.  5-13      . 

94 

i.  13  . 

126 

viii.  22 

1         .     66 

xiii.  1-3      . 

156 

i.  14  . 

72 

.  127 

viii.  26 

.         .     96 

xiii.  4,  5      . 

157 

i.  i5  . 

2 

8,53 

viii.  28 

.         .     36 

xiii.  32,  33 

145 

i.  17  . 

28 

viii.  30 

.     90 

XV.  11-17   . 

23 

ii.  6    , 

37 

viii.  32 

89,  12 

xxii.  25 

142 

iii-  9  ^ 

.     24 

viii.  37 

72,  187 

xxii.  27 

257 

iii.  24 

.     29 

viii.  38,  39 

•     77 

xxii.  44 

93 

iii.  25 

.     29 

xi.  II 

•     27 

337 


22 


338 


INDEX    OF    TEXTS 


Romans 

PAGE 

PAO» 

PAGE 

vi.  13 

206,  313 

xii.  4-7 

t           .      76 

X.  4  . 
xi.  32 
xii.  I 

22 

vi.  14 
vi.  15 

206,  228 
206,  317 

xii.  22 
xii.  24 

.     .  265 
265,  267 

107 

vi.  19 

206,  317 

xii.  25 

265,  271 

xii.  2 

vi.  19,  20  . 

185.313 

xii.  26 

.  266 

107,  10 

8,  112 

116 

vi.  20   20( 

>.  317. 318 

xiii.  . 

76,  286 

xii.  3  III 

,  112, 

142 

vi.  39 

.  228 

xiii.  1-3 

.  287 

xii.  9 

no 

vii.  I  . 

.  221 

xiii.  2 

.  285 

xii.  9,  10 

123 

vii.  2-5 

.  227 

xiii.  II 

.   48 

xii.  12 

95 

vii.  7 

.  222 

xiv.  2 

.  286 

xii.  16 

301 

vii.  20 

.  252 

xiv.  12 

.  286 

xii.  17 

III 

vii.  21 

.  252 

xiv.  22 

.  286 

xiii.  7-10 

77) 

vii.  22 

•  253 

xiv.  33,  34 

.  213 

xiii.  12.  13 

51 

vii.  23 

•  253 

xiv.  35 

.  214 

xiv.  1-4 

269 

vii.  24 

.  229 

xiv.  40 

.  214 

xiv.  3 
xiv.  5 
xiv.  13 
xiv.  13,  21 

175 
175 

vii.  26 
vii.  28 

•  223 
.  226 

XV.  33 
XV.  38 

.  282 
.  282 

175 

vii.  29 

.  224 

xvi.  2 

.  194 

176 

vii.  29,  30  . 

.  224 

xiv.  14,  15 

174 

vii.  31 

.  224 

2  Corinthians 

xiv.  15 

176 

vii.  32,  33  • 

.  225 

xiv.  17,  18 

216 

viii.  1,6  . 

.  75 

i-3-5 

.  164 

xiv.  19 

176 

viii.  4,  7  . 

.  177 

i.  12  . 

.  170 

xiv.  22 

169 

177 

viii.  7 

.  178 

ii.  2  . 

•  49 

xiv.  23 

168 

viii.  8 

.  178 

ii.  2-4 

.  129 

XV.  I 

177 
268 

viii.  9 

.  178 

ii.  14 

50.71 

XV.  1-3 

XV.  3 

XV.  30 
xvi.  . 

viii.  10 

.  178 

iii.  18 

.  48 

T-77, 

270 

93 
132 

viii.  12 
ix.  6  . 
ix.  7-9 

.  178 
.  178 
.  178 

iv.  2  . 
iv.  6  . 
iv.  8-10 

.  169 

•  31 
.  160 

ix.  II 

.  178 

iv.  17 

155.  164 

I  CoRI^ 

THIANS 

ix.  12 
ix.  16 

.  179 
•  143 

V.  10. 
V.  14. 

•  37 
29,72 

i.  4-9 

128 

ix.  19 

•  143 

V.  15. 

•  34 

i.  5  . 

SO 

ix.  22 

148,  179 

V.  17. 

•  34 

i.  8  . 

50 

ix.  24 

•  179 

vi.  10 

•  143 

i.  12,  13  . 

294, 

295 

ix.  25 

.  179 

vii.  I 

.  317 

i.  17  . 

29s 

ix.  27 

.  317 

vii.  8 

.  129 

i.  21  . 

27, 

29s 

X.  23  . 

.  179 

viii.  I 

.  183 

i.  24  . 

29s 

X.  24 . 

•  179 

viii.  2 

.  188 

i.  26  . 

188 

X.  26. 

.  179 

viii.  3 

.  188 

ii.  6,  7 

295 

X.  27. 

.  179 

viii.  5 

.  191 

ii.  II. 

96 

X.  28,  29  . 

.  180 

viii.  7 

183, 184 

ii.  16 . 

47 

X.  30. 

.  180 

viii.  8 

184,  190 

iii.  I  . 

47 

X.  31,32  . 

180,  287 

viii.  9 

.  186 

iii.  II 

49 

xi.  3  . 

.  227 

viii.  II,  12 

.  192 

iv.  3  . 

148 

xi.  5  . 

.  211 

viii.  12 

.  191 

iv.  4  . 

170, 

143 

xi.  7  . 

.  227 

viii.  13,  14 

•  193 

iv.  7  . 

186 

xi.  II 

.  227 

viii.  15 

•  193 

vi.  12 

205 

xii.  . 

.  29s  J 

viii.  19 

.  184 

INDEX    OF    TEXTS 


339 


2  Corinthians 

PAGE 

FAQB 

PAGE 

iii.  II 

.  28 

iii.  14 

•   47 

viii.  24   ,    .184 

iii.  13 

.  162 

iv.  5  . 

.  148 

ix.  1-4 

•  130 

iii.  14,  15 

.  76 

iv.  6  . 

101,  112 

ix.  5  . 

.  184,  191 

iii.  17,  19 

•  75 

iv.  6,  7 

.  116 

IX.  7  . 

.  192 

iv.  12 

.  50 

iv.  7  . 

.  112 

ix.  10,  II 

•  197 

iv.  13 

.    .  48 

iv.  8,  9 

.  no 

ix.  12 

.  184 

iv.  20 

•  47 

iv.  10-19 

.  130 

ix.  13 

.  184 

iv.  23 

.  107 

iv.  13 

•   49.  143 

x.  3  . 

.  no 

iv.  23-v.  2 

.  40 

X.  4.  5 
X.  5  . 

.  296 
.  no.  Ill 

V.  I,  2 

V.  17 

.  72 
.  21 

COLOSSIANS 

xii.  8 

•  51 

V. 21  228 

.  236,  237 

i-3  . 

97.  100 

xii.  9 

.  U 

V.  21-33 

.  227 

i.  9  . 

95.  97 

xii.  10 

.  161 

V.  22 

'   52, 237 

i.  9,  10,  12 

.  100 

xii.  II 

.  50 

V.  24 

.  238 

i.  15  . 

.  47 

V.  25 

52,  76,  238 

i.  16  . 

.  187 

Galatians 

V.  27 

•  239 

i.  17  . 

.  67 

i.  6,  7    .    .  ^2^ 

V.  28 

239,  240 

i.  18  . 

.  67 

i.  10  , 

.  148 

V.  29 

.  240 

i.  20  . 

•  ^7 

i.  12  . 

■  323 
.  150 

•  324 

V.  31 

•  239 

i.  21,  22 

•   300 

ii.  1-6 

V.  32 

.  240 

i.  24  . 

-  163 

ii.  19. 

vi.  I  . 

241,  242 

i.  27,  28 

•  302 

ii.  20   4,  I 

54,  71,  143 

vi.  I,  2 

.  242 

i.  29  . 

•  93 

iii.  6  . 

•  327 

vi.  I,  5,  9 

.  237 

ii.  I  . 

•  93 

iii.  28 

.  206 

VI.  3  . 

.  242 

ii.  2,  3 

-  74 

iv.  6  . 

•  331 

•  59 
.  146 

326,  52 

•  74 

vi.  4  . 

•  244 

ii.  4  . 

•  299 

iv.  11 

vi.  8  . 

•  255 

11.  9  . 

•   4 

iv.  19 

vi.  9  . 

257,  258 

ii.  13. 

.  314 

V.  I  . 

vi.  18 

.  96 

ii.  16-22   . 

•  300 

V.  4  . 

vii.  31 

.  226 

ii.  18  . 

285,  299 

V.  5,  6 

38,  331 

ii.  20,  22  . 

•  314 

V.  13,  14  • 

270,  332 

Philip 

PIANS 

ii.  22 . 

•  314 

V.  15  . 

.  270 

ii.  23 . 

301.  314 

V.  16. 

.  318 
.  286 

i.  I 

■  131 

iii.  I.  2  lit 

>.  301,  314 

V.  22 . 

i-  3-5 

.  100 

iii.  1-3 

.  108 

V.  22,  23   . 

•  38 

1.  9  . 

•  75 

iii.  3  . 

•  47 

V.  25 

.  201 

i.  II  . 

•  50 

iii.  4  . 

47,  314 

V.  25-vi.  I  . 

.  288 

i.  12  . 

149,  162 

iii.  5  . 

.  301 

vi.  I,  2 

.  271 

i.  15-20 

•  59 

iii.  8  . 

.  300 

vi.  3  . 

.  288 

i.  21  . 

•  47 

iii.  II 

•  302 

vi.  14 

•  33 

i.  23  . 

•  59 

iii.  13 

•  15 

vi.  15 

"•  3.  4 

.  124 

iii.  14 

•  76 

■"" 

u.  4  . 

.  174 

iii.  16 

47.  299 

Ephesians 

ii.  5  . 
ii.  6-8 

47.  141 

iii.  17 

•  237 

i       £i 

•  S3 

iii.  18  20,  2 

2,  23,  237 

1.  0     . 

.    100 

ii.  7,  8 

1^7. 2S7 

iii.  20 

53.  241 

i.  22  . 

•  67 

ii.  20,  21  . 

•  59 

iii.  21 

•  243 

ii.  I,  2 

.      22 

iii.  5,6 

•  323 

iii.  22 

•  254 

ii.  18 

-  89   iii.  8,  9 

•  32 

iii.  24 

•  53 

ii.  19 

.  89 

m.  12-14  • 

.  42 

iv.  I  . 

S3.  257 

S40 


INDEX    OF   TEXTS 


COLOSSIANS 


JV.  2  . 

iv.  6  . 
iv.  9  . 
iv.  12 


PAGE 

95,  loi 

.  125 

.  256 
.  93 


I  Thessalonians 


I.  I  . 
i.  6  . 
ii.  7,  8 
iii.  6-8 
iii.  7-10 
iii.  10 
iii.  12 
iii.  13 

V.  II 

V.  17  . 
V.  17,  18 
V.  25  . 
vi.  I  , 


.  132 

•  47 
58,  146 

.  132 
.  58 
.  95 
.  SO 

•  SO 
.  270 
.  95 

.  lOI 

•  97 

.  254 


2  Thessalonians 

i.  II  .         .         ,97 
iii.  I  ,         .         .97 


HI.  10 

. 

276 

iv.  II,  12 

• 

283 

I  Timothy 

i.  13  . 

170 

ii.  8  . 

lOI 

iv.  4.  S 

314 

V.  4  . 

274 

V.  8  . 

275 

V.  16. 

275 

2  Timothy 

i-  3  . 

100 

170 

i.  7  . 

116 

i.  8  . 

162 

i.  10  . 

116 

i.  13  . 

284 

ii.  0,  U' 

162 

ii.  12. 

158 

ii.  17. 

282 

ii.  18. 

282 

ii.  19. 

28  5 

ii.  24,  25 

146 

iii.  5-8 

28=; 

iii.  12 

158 

iv.  6,  7 

. 

145 

Titus 


ii.  9,  10   . 
ii.  10     .  255 
ii.  11-14 
iii.  8,  9 

PAQB 

254 
298 
298 
299 

Philemon 

4   .    .    . 
7,  16,  20  . 
10  .    .    . 
21   .    .    . 

100 
256 
256 
256 

Hebrews 

V.  8  . 

ix.  22 

242 

88 

X.  9  , 

X.  19,  20  .   89 

xii.  II 

90 

312 
155 

I  John 

V.  4  . 

311 

Revelation 
V.  8   .        .        .  243 


Printed  by  Hazell,   Watson  cS"  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Ayltsbury,  England. 


DateDue 

rt2-o,^ 

^i/5S 

FEr'^T 

AP9q'55 

9 

